《The Clocks》


 Prologue

    -----------------


    Not for the first time she wondered why she''d bothered to reply to the recruitment mail she''d received. No, she wasn''t going to admit that it was mainly because she was curious about how they''d gotten her private metanet mail address. At any rate, it was too late to back out now, so she might as well go through with it.


    After arriving at the address, she was quickly ushered into a small office and was confronted by the recruiter.


    "OK. So here''s the deal. We want you for a clandestine project. It''s going to require a commitment of about 1,500 years, spread out over several lifetimes on two planets. Don''t worry if you''re somehow discovered during the first phase. The planet will be instantaneously vaporized by the enemy. Neither you nor the billion or so beings living on it will feel a thing.


    "The planet for phase two has protections in place, so, once you get there, you and your team will be the only ones at risk of obliteration.


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there."Who''s in charge of the project? Don''t worry about that. She has a lot of experience. She may be a bit on the young side, so to speak, and she does have a rather warped sense of humor, but don''t worry. I''m told that she''ll grow out of it within the next few eons.


    "How young? She''s actually not quite hit puberty yet. But don''t worry. She''s highly qualified.


    "Who told me that? Uh...well...she did. She said that if I didn''t tell you what she said she''d.... No, never mind. I don''t want to even think about it. Moving right along then. What''s your next question?


    "Security? Of course we''ll have it. Nothing better exists anywhere in our multiverse cluster. We''re going to seal your memories of who and what you all are until the project is complete. That way there''s absolutely no chance of a leak.


    "Really! You didn''t have to break the chair. It never did anything to you! Oh, I see. It was either that or break me. Excellent choice. I knew there was a good reason to include you in the project.


    "No, wait, don''t leave! I was saving the best for last. Just one more thing, then you can go if you must. Please?


    "Sure, I''ll make it fast. The one you''ve had a secret crush on these past 200 years has already agreed to participate. If you join, you''ll be together nearly every day for the duration of the project.


    "Excellent! We''re glad to have you on board. I guarantee that you won''t regret your decision...since you won''t remember making it.


    "What did I just say? Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. I was just talking to myself. Truly...."

 Volume 1 - Chapter 1 - What the heck?

    She checked the timepiece embedded in the claw-spur of her left, upper forewing with a sense of heady anticipation -- yes, time to get started. It wasn''t really very civilized of her, but, like all members of her species, she derived substantial enjoyment from playing with her prey. It was a genetically hardwired trait, and there was nothing to be done about it. Eating one''s students was, unfortunately, out of the question in such a civilized culture. However, mildly terrorizing them on occasion was the prerogative of professors throughout the ''verses, and she intended to make use of it.


    After walking into the lecture hall, she fluttered her 80 centimeter body up onto her perch-lectern. The movement attracted the attention of the students who were still standing, and they scrambled to sit/perch/recline, whichever their species preferred.


    "I''m Professor Ptica, and hmmm...let''s see." She reached up and increased the dampening effect of the noise limiter covering her mouthparts. That first phrase had caused a few empty desks to vibrate a centimeter or so across the floor.


    "Is that better?"


    Seeing relieved faces, she continued, "I''m not going to waste your time, and I don''t expect you to waste mine either. Many of you have no idea what Applied Sociology VII is and don''t care. You''re here because it has been decreed by those on high (meaning the Curriculum Committee of this institution) that all beings studying for any advanced degree in this university must take this course...and pass it.


    "My requirements of you are simple. You don''t even need to read the textbook if you don''t wish to. All examination questions will be taken from the presentations in class. Don''t think that you can write this course off entirely though. In order to pass, you must score at least 80% on EVERY test. I don''t mean an average score, I mean a minimum score. Retests are allowed, once."


    Ptica smiled to herself as she saw the horrified looks on the faces of the students who''d thought that they''d be able to put in only minimal effort and "get by" since this course wasn''t part of their majors.


    "Don''t look so shocked. You''re all enrolled in the doctoral programs here, and should know the requirements. Once you pass this course, you''ll need scores of at least 90% in all future classes you take, regardless of whatever department you''re in, if you want to graduate. This university is one of the most prestigious in this part of our multiverse cluster. You either work hard or you get out. Each graduate represents us and reflects on how well we did our jobs. We expect you to do yours as well."


    She shook herself gently to settle her feathers and concluded with, "I''ll reiterate. Everything you need to know to pass this course will be made perfectly clear in my presentations, all of which will be video simulations created by the university for this course 170 years ago. These simulated characters will go through their lives in a virtual city where many cultures interacted. Where better to study the impact of various societies on each other than in an international trading hub?


    "The actors hired to voice these roles were all superb. Even the children with speaking roles were extensively screened. Feel free to enjoy what you watch too, as long as you remember to study the meaning of each scene.


    "That being said, the premise they came up with to explain the existence of The City is an incredibly stupid one from my point of view, but that''s all it is, my point of view. Yours may differ. If so, don''t tell me. I''m not interested.


    "During the course, don''t bother asking me questions outside of class. If you don''t understand my presentations, you''re in the wrong university. However, if any students have questions for me at the end of the year, meaning AFTER the course has been concluded, my office hours are obtainable through whatever device you use to access the university databases. At that time, I''ll be pleased to answer any and all questions that you might still have. Otherwise don''t waste my time or yours. I know I already said that, but it''s worth repeating.


    "Oh, and one last thing. A number of terms used herein are modern semi-equivalents and not at all consistent with the time periods in which the presentations are based. However, the course designers were much too lazy to take the time to present you with the actual words from two different dialects of ancient Italian and then translate for you. You''re going to have to live with the idea of sweat pants, t-shirts, holograms, and such, even though none of them existed during the time periods of these constructions, which are equivalent to their 7th and 14th centuries.


    "We shall begin with events that took place in the latter period."


    -------------------------


    Friday September 14 in The Year 719 After the Founding


    Immediately upon hearing the bells marking the time as 6:30 p.m., units of the Guard and the City Militia began herding tourists and pilgrims who were in The City to celebrate the Festa toward their inns. Those native to The City needed no such prompting and began heading home.


    At precisely 6:53, the bell in the clock tower at the Ducal Residence chimed once as a final warning. The noise level rose briefly as slamming shutters and running feet became the predominate sounds. Had one been so inclined, and willing to brave the danger, there was some amusement to be had from looking down at the sight of various well-to-do matrons, who had dawdled too long at one shop or another, hiking up their skirts and outrunning their maids as they sprinted for home.


    -------------


    Master Merchant Aldus Ringvold had pushed the mule train a bit harder than usual in order to make up the time they''d lost from having to detour around a bridge damaged by a landslide. Fortunately, at least for the human members of the party, they''d arrived with nearly two hours to spare and had managed to get all their goods into the warded storage bins in the sheds and then get the mules bedded down. They''d finished just 10 minutes earlier.


    He''d been born in The City, and his homecoming, while uncelebrated, was still comforting, since he spent most of the year on the road. Like all children born here, with the exception of the few who had stronger abilities, he''d not manifested his power until shortly before he reached puberty. Also like most others, his talent was so trivial as to be unremarkable. When he was little he''d had a powerful envy of those with a useful skill, like the MacOwen twins and their ability to always know exactly what time it was.


    But, as he grew toward adulthood, his "useless" talent had unexpectedly turned out to be a significant asset. His northlands ancestry had given him extremely fair skin and hair so blond that it was almost white Thus, when he''d decided to become a merchant, his total immunity to the ravages of the sun went from something of negligible worth to something envied by his compatriots. He never burned, he never tanned, and he''d never developed any of those strange skin growths that were so common among those who labored outdoors. He also never bragged to anyone about it. Rather, his response, if someone brought it up, was more of a "how about that?" Though his talent gave him one less thing to worry about, in his line of work there were still worries aplenty that kept him from getting a swelled head.


    He was somewhat smaller than average, but he was heavily muscled, almost as much as a smith. It had come in handy in his younger years when other boys, suffering from an excess of hormones, had tried to show off by beating him up. Nobody had tried more than once unless they were drunk. Nowadays everyone pretty much left him alone, which suited him just fine.


    Having completed stowing his goods and overseeing the care of the mules, he glanced up at the mantle clock as he entered the taproom of the Mule''s Tale Inn and nodded. It was 6:51. Just nine minutes to go.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Ringvold, who for reasons he''d never explained to anyone went by his surname, had planned to relax over a mug of the excellent local ale. Indeed he would have been, except that he was listening, with mounting exasperation, to a tirade from his new journeyman trainee Mario Brown.


    At 16 he was two years younger than was usual for one newly promoted to journeyman, but he was that good. Unfortunately he still had a 16 year old''s attitude toward the world. It probably didn''t help that he was a good 10 centimeters taller than Ringvold and hadn''t yet learned that your size had nothing to do with your worth.


    "Let me tell you Master Ringvold, this is all nothing but claptrap designed to make more money for the cab companies. I mean -- that law prohibiting inns for travelers with animals from being anywhere inside the city walls is insane. Who does that? I''ll tell you who, no other city in Europe, that''s who! Either you exhaust yourself hiking up and down the hill to do your business, or you pay a cabbie to take you. Then, if you''ve bought much of anything for resale, you have to pay for the ride back down as well. Anywhere else you could pick a centrally located inn and simply walk wherever you need to go and take a donkey or mule with you to carry what you''ve bought."


    Having heard it all before, too many times, Ringvold limited himself to a nod. No use in getting angry with the lad. He''d straighten out...eventually. Aldus had spent most of the last 14 years introducing new employees to the ins and outs of the various cities where The Company did business, and they all said something like what Mario had when they came to The City of The Bells for the first time. Mario had taken a deep breath, presumably so he could continue with his complaints, when the sound of a single bell chime was heard reverberating through the room.


    Immediately the inn staff, even the cooks and servers, dropped whatever they were doing and trotted over to the windows. The sound of shutters being pulled closed and latched in place filled the room. Mario turned to Ringvold in astonishment, likely wanting an explanation. However, his attention was once more drawn to the windows when it became evident that the staff weren''t finished yet. Teams of three were hanging thick pads of cloth over each window and, surprisingly, even the door. Two were lifting and one was guiding loops sewn into the tops and sides of the pads over large hooks affixed above and to the edges of the openings.


    Mario could tell by the practiced ease with which they accomplished their tasks that they had done this many times in the past. It seemed only moments before they were done and resumed their normal activities, picking up from where they''d left off as if nothing had happened.


    Chuckling as Mario turned back with a questioning look, Ringvold admitted to himself that it was rather unfair of him to never tell the newbies about the particulars of this city. But, if he had, it would have spoiled all the fun of watching them. However that was that and this was this.


    He pinned Mario to his chair with a fierce stare. "When we visit the merchants in town tomorrow, there''s one thing that you MUST NOT DO. I don''t care if you have to put both your hands over your mouth, but, whatever you do, you are not to say a single word about how thick the walls of the buildings are. And don''t even think about asking why there are two doors for each doorway and multiple panes of glass in the windows. There isn''t anyone in The City who hasn''t heard it from the tourists hundreds, if not thousands of times, and it sets their teeth on edge.


    "Let me remind you, if the person you''re trying to do business with is, shall we say, ''irritated'', you''re not going to get a good price, never mind whether you''re buying or selling. And if we end up paying too much or selling too low because you couldn''t keep your mouth shut, the difference is coming out of your wages. You understand?"


    Mario swallowed and nodded hastily. "Yes sir, ah, no sir...I mean.... I''m not sure what I mean. I understand what you don''t want me to say, but I have no idea why...Sir...."


    Ringvold finally did snicker out loud, after which he decided to let Mario off the hook. He''d put him in his place, relatively gently, and that was his primary concern. These newly promoted male journeymen always tended to be on the cocky side. Personally, he much preferred working with the new females. They never suffered from testosterone poisoning and actually listened as he shared the experience he''d gained from 17 years of working for The Company.


    He stroked his chin thoughtfully. Now that he thought about it, he supposed that it was their willingness to learn and disinclination to butt heads with others of a similar rank that had resulted in most of the mid and upper management positions in The Company being held by women.


    He glanced at the clock again. "Well, my young friend. You have the advantage of being here at the beginning of this month''s Festa, so the reason for what I just told you will become perfectly clear in the very near future."


    As he was speaking, he reached out an arm and scooped two sets of oversized earmuffs out of a large basket being carried between the tables by one of the servers. He tossed one to Mario and said, "Put it on. We only have a bit over a minute left."


    Any response that Mario made was inaudible as total silence descended upon his now muffled ears. Even so Ringvold put his hands over the muffs and pressed gently to make sure that the edges were completely sealed against his skull. Mario quickly copied his action, though he looked even more puzzled than he had before.


    A few seconds later the world ended. At least Mario thought that was what was happening. The building began to shake, and the shaking was accompanied by a sound. He really couldn''t describe it. "Noise" was too small a word. "Cacophany" came closer, but he found that wanting too. Finally he settled on "calamitous." Even that was a pale reflection of what he wanted to name what he was experiencing, but he lacked the vocabulary to express it any better.


    An endless time later it stopped. He looked at the clock on the mantle and saw that the eternity that had just passed had, in reality, lasted exactly five minutes. Other than a faint ringing in his ears, Mario felt reasonably whole. He tried to stand up and stretch, but his legs had no strength.


    Ringvold smiled at him. "Just wait a bit boy. Things will be straightened out soon enough."


    Shortly two servers passed by. The first collected the earmuffs, and the second put a slightly steaming mug of something that smelled of herbs and bitterness in front of each of them.


    "Choke it down boy. It''s the only thing that''s ever been found to aid in recovery."


    Saying that, RIngvold drained his mug in one continuous action then bit into the tiny pastry that a third server had left at each of their elbows. Mario copied his action, almost gagging on the heavy taste of the drink. He grabbed frantically at the pastry and popped it into his mouth. He was instantly, blissfully relieved of much of the bitterness left behind by the drink.


    Ringvold nodded, apparently to himself. "Even after almost 500 years, only the Fukui family has perfected a pastry that kills most of the taste of the herbs. You should be grateful to our host." He turned and bowed in the direction of a sturdy, but somehow very attractive, woman who was the innkeeper. She smiled slightly and nodded back, then turned to continue what she had been doing.


    "The Fukuis charge twice what any other patisserie does but she," he pointed with his chin at the innkeeper, "is smart enough to know that it''s the little things that enhance your reputation and business. The extra expense is miniscule in comparison to that."


    Seeing that Mario was still a bit shaky he added, "Just sit there a while. You should be feeling back to normal in a few minutes."


    Mario nodded dumbly. As he looked around the room, he noticed something odd. "Master Ringvold, why aren''t any of the staff here affected? They all seem to have their full strength." He pointed toward the window, where the padding was efficiently being taken down and carted off, presumably to a storage area.


    "Well boy, nobody is entirely sure why it happened, but it''s fairly certain that a strong resistance has been bred into those born in The City. It stays with them if they live here most of the year. There is a downside though. Even after nearly 600 years of exposure, their miscarriage rate is still about 20% higher than elsewhere in northern Italy. Oddly enough, even from the beginning, all the animals hereabouts have been entirely immune."


    As Ringvold was speaking, Mario began tapping the side of his head, like someone would if their ears were ringing. Nodding to himself, he then gave himself a serious clout.


    "Whatever was that for boy? Are you ill?"


    "No Master, it''s not that. I was disrespectful toward you earlier, and I behaved like an idiot. As I''m no longer an apprentice you''re not allowed to hit me, but I deserved to be hit. So I did it myself."


    He smiled crookedly. "This way nobody can complain about you abusing a journeyman."


    Aldus nodded his understanding. Perhaps this one would be worth the effort after all.


    Shortly thereafter the server brought their dinners to them. When they were almost finished, Mario asked, "Master, if you please, tell me about what happened. As it stands, things are about as clear as mud."


    Ringvold chewed slowly, savoring his final bit of chop, then nodded. Good conversation always enlivened a meal, especially if he were the one talking and there was an attentive audience.

 Vol 1 - Ch 2 - History Lesson (1)

    "Well boy, it''s like this. As near as can be told, about 720 years ago a great battle was almost fought here on account of two barons not being all that fond of each other. It wasn''t like the wars we''ve heard about with thousands, or even tens of thousands of troops clashing. In those days a big battle in a remote area like this was then might have as few as 40 to 60 men on either side. At any rate, nobody is quite sure who was on which side, or who won...if it can be said that anyone did. Just as the lines were charging up that hill that''s in the center of town (both sides wanting to control the high ground) there was a blazing light in the sky. It streaked down and hit exactly in the center of the flat at the top."


    He cleared his throat and took a sip of his ale. Not because he needed to, but so as to build the tension. Above all a master merchant needed to be a good storyteller.


    "So, as I was saying, whatever it was smacked into the top of the hill -- at least according to some stories. Others say that it stopped about 10 meters in the air and floated there. Regardless of which is true, all the tales agree that there was a blinding flash of light and a giant thunderclap that knocked every single soldier off his feet. All the nobles, being mounted on horses, were thrown off when their mounts spooked and ran away.


    "It''s said that the soldiers were so impressed by the miracle that they refused to fight any more." Ringvold bent forward, and Mario did likewise in response. "I think that what happened is that all the nobles got themselves killed (or at least seriously broken up) when they fell off their horses. When you''re wearing heavy armor and get thrown off a horse, you may never stand up again. So what probably happened was that the fight ended before it began because there wasn''t anyone left to give the order to attack. I expect that the armies being almost entirely made up of peasant conscripts had a lot to do with stopping the fighting. They surely were more interested in getting back to their farms than they were in killing strangers, or in getting killed themselves."


    When one of the servers stopped to clear off the table, Ringvold drew back and coughed. Afterwards he continued his story.


    "All those peasant soldiers found themselves standing around without anyone telling them what to do any more. Then a breeze blew up out of nowhere, and the cloud of dust from the, well, ''explosion'' is the best word I guess.... Anyway, a breeze came and blew all the dust away. Then the sun broke through the clouds, and the soldiers got a good look at the valley surrounding them.


    "The folks on both sides, well, they looked at the valley, then they looked at each other. By all accounts, right then and there they got together and stacked up all the weapons. They gathered up all the horses and then stripped the armor off all the dead nobles since they surely had no use for it any more. I suppose that it''s possible that one or two of them might have survived the falls, but somehow all of them were dead by the time their former soldiers got them out of their armor.


    "They were pleasantly surprised to find that each side had a blacksmith with them and at least a couple decent carpenters. They immediately set up makeshift smithies and began making ploughs, sickles, axes, hammers, nails, and such. Some men from each side went home and brought back their womenfolk, their animals, all that seed they hadn''t had time to plant yet (on account of being drafted so early in the spring), and their children. After telling everyone back home about the glorious valley that they''d found, well sir, all the other families followed them too seeing as they''d all been living at the edges of the forest and the land there wasn''t all that good for farming or grazing anyways.


    "By the time they got back about three weeks later (it takes a while to strip an entire village and get set up to travel you know) those who''d stayed behind on that hill had built the start of a tolerable town. They''d even laid out streets, had roughly surveyed the valley, and had agreed on the size of parcels of land for their new farms and such. None of the tales recorded who had the idea, but someone (who in my opinion should be nominated for sainthood) had convinced the others to draw lots for the land. Farmers got to draw for the farmlands, and the herders drew for grazing land and such.


    "There were a few real soldiers left on each side, so they ran things and made sure that nobody cheated. (To tell the truth, if you look around the valley today, you can tell that it hardly mattered who ended up with what land. It''s still among the most fertile and productive in all of Europe, though nobody even now knows the why of it.)


    "Right away they started in ploughing and sowing their seeds. Those who weren''t needed for anything else, went back and forth from the villages and the baron''s keeps, stripping every building there and bringing back everything that they could use.


    "The ones who were crafters and such, they went from homestead to homestead and threw up one house after another. They weren''t perfect, but they kept the rain and most of the wind away, so that was good enough. By the fall, they''d had plenty of time to seal them up better, make furniture, and build some outbuildings. But before that, they built themselves a church to celebrate the miracle that had stopped the fighting (and them dying from it) and had brought them to such a wonderful place.


    "One of the oddest things that happened was the cats. Now I know what you''re going to say, or maybe ask. What the heck do cats have to do with The Founding of The City? Well, you don''t have to ask ''cause I''m a gonna tell you right now. You see, when the folks moved here, they brought everything they could, but they didn''t have room for animals unless they needed them for food, for pulling ploughs, or for their wool, you ken? Oh, sure, some kids smuggled a cat or two along with them, but when they got here there weren''t but five or six cats all together.


    "Even a city kid like you should know what happens to your grain if you don''t have cats to keep the mice and rats under control. In a worst case, you can lose as much as 30 or 40 percent of it and sometimes as much as half. Even in a good year with several farm cats around it would still be 10% to 15%. That''s when the second miracle of The City happened.


    "Just as the farmers were getting ready to harvest their grain that fall, two or three cats showed up outta nowhere on each farm. Let me tell you, that surprised everyone, in a good way to be sure, but the real surprise was how they acted. They weren''t half-wild like most farm cats, especially as these cats and the farmers didn''t know each other. For once, all the accounts agree. Those cats just moseyed into the farmer''s homes and made themselves comfortable. That confused the heck outta the farmers. Farm cats usually sleep in the barn or whatever, not inside the house. Seems that these cats didn''t know that and refused to sleep anywhere but indoors. Most of the time it seemed that they just lazed about, but every time they were let in before dark, there was a neat row of dead vermin at the side of the door.


    "Two years later the folks had settled into their new town and started keeping more accurate tallies of the grain. Once they put their heads together and compared notes, they found out that they were losing no more than 5%. That winter they built another church to celebrate the Miracle of the Arrival of the Cats that saved their harvests


    "It wasn''t but a few years more before they had enough extra grain that they were sending a fair bit down south every fall. Legend has it that each year was better than the one before, and you know how much they export nowadays." Ringvold glared at Mario. "At least you''d BETTER know how much."


    Mario bobbed his head and grinned back at his master. "Yessir, I do sir."


    Everyone in the crowd that had gathered around chuckled then turned back to Ringvold. Aldus let it die down then went on with his tale. "Very good. Anyway, right from the beginning they''d decided that since nobles didn''t have much use anyway, except to cause trouble, they didn''t need any. That was why nobody bothered to send word to the king that two of his barons and all their hangers-on had died.


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    "Because of that, it wasn''t until four or five years later that the king, or probably his Minister of Finance, noticed that they hadn''t received any taxes from those two barons the past few years. The amount in arrears was a pittance really, given how poor the holdings of the barons had been, but still, appearances had to be kept up. If the king didn''t exercise his authority, someone might think that he didn''t care about that land and might nip it off and add it to their kingdom. Besides it gave him a wonderful opportunity.


    "His personal crown-lands weren''t all that extensive, and that had become a serious problem. He hadn''t been the only one to be surprised when he had not one but three sons survive to adulthood, seeing as how most children in those days died before they were 10. He''d been mightily worried about whether his third son, who wasn''t going to get any land as an inheritance, might accidentally kill off one of his older brothers so he could take the land they were going to inherit.


    "When the king heard about the problem with the barons not paying their taxes, well, right then and there the king officially disenfranchised the barons. He didn''t know that they were dead, and he probably wouldn''t have cared anyway. What he did was make his third son a duke, and gave him the lands that had belonged to the barons. The next spring the king also gave him a small company of soldiers and a fair amount of money. Then he sent him off to take possession of his new lands before anyone, especially his son, could object.


    "What the new duke found was that the former baron''s holdings had been abandoned. He was extremely surprised to see that they hadn''t been destroyed, which would have made sense if there''d been any serious fighting, but there weren''t any signs of fighting at all. However everything that might be useful was gone. What little remained was undisturbed, which made even less sense. He pressed on, pretty slowly since things were looking sorta spooky what with all those people having disappeared and all, but he eventually reached the valley. What he saw had by then become a good sized and obviously prosperous town. His original dispatch back to his father, three months after he arrived, listed 512 souls and two churches...but I''m getting ahead of myself.


    "Now, normally when a small army shows up, especially one headed by a noble, most towns, especially the ones like this that didn''t want any nobles around in the first place, would close the gates and try to wait them out. In most circumstances that might have worked, at least temporarily, seeing as how the new duke''s company tallied only 40 men. However, him showing up right then has been counted as the third miracle of The City, right after the one that freed them from their former masters five years earlier, and the arrival of the cats.


    "What it was is that the town was already under siege by a rather large group of bandits. The legend has it that there were several hundred, but their actual number, also recorded in the duke''s first dispatch, was 84.


    "It''s a fact that they numbered more than twice as many as the duke''s force, but they were in truth a barely controlled mob, and all the men the duke had with him were professional soldiers. I''m sure you can guess what he did. The duke attacked from the rear and slaughtered all of the bandits. What happened next you don''t need to be a genius to figure it out.


    "The townsfolk, instead of being hostile, swarmed around them, cheering, and the womenfolk were the most enthusiastic of all. Quite a number of them had lost their men while the barons had fought various skirmishes before the ''big battle''. Even a number of the older boys had been killed or had died from the flux in camp, so there were a lot of women, and a fair number of girls who had recently become women, who didn''t have a man.


    "Now there were suddenly plenty of new men, each and every one of them a hero in the eyes of the townfolk. Within a month they''d built their new Duke, Alphonse, a reasonably fancy house, and there''d already been about a double hand of marriages. The ''Ducal Residence'' wasn''t anything like what he''d known at his father''s court, but, even though it was all of wood, it was a lot better than what he''d seen at the former baron''s estates.


    "The next thing you knew, a third church was being built to celebrate the miracle of the duke rescuing the town when all had seemed lost and they were surrounded by darkness. (You know how tales exaggerate and use dramatic language and such as well as I do.) It wasn''t long after that before word got around that this particular town was well protected, and by the next year the population had nearly doubled as people looking for safety and/or profit (never forget profit my young friend) moved to the town.


    "Things went swimmingly the next few years. Once everyone had realized that things were truly, probably, going to remain peaceful, the townsfolk began to get nervous. The duke was still a young man, but he was as of yet unmarried. The fear that he would die without an heir was soon a frequent topic of conversation in the inns and on the streets. (You need to remember that 700 years ago ''medicine'' was mostly nothing more than superstition and fable, and that diseases, seemingly arising from nowhere, would frequently sweep across the country leaving populations decimated.)


    "It wasn''t so bad, yet, that there was any active pressure on the duke to marry, so he soldiered on with managing his duchy and did his best to ignore the gossip. One of his major accomplishments had been to substantially improve the ''road'' that ran south to the nearest of the king''s highways. What had been a nearly impassable quagmire in the rainy season was now a well-drained, elevated, graveled, all-weather surface. All adult males had been required to either haul rock, break it up into gravel, or lay it down on the road. The mandate was that each one contribute 10% of his time to the project. The road was completed in July of 11 AF and saw its first heavy use after harvest in that same year.


    "When he''d made his decree, there''d been substantial grumbling. However that faded fairly rapidly once it was pointed out to the farmers and herders that they''d now easily be able to take their surplus to markets farther away and not be restricted to the lower prices they''d gotten in the past because they''d had to sell locally. As for the merchants and innkeepers, it took almost no persuading at all for them. The city was already becoming something of a destination for pilgrims, and easier travel meant more money in their pockets.


    "Even so a few were still unconvinced, but ongoing stories of increasing profits from those who had already managed sales in other areas eventually resulted in greed overcoming the resistance of even the most diehard ''you can''t tell me what to do'' members of the community. After that there wasn''t even token objection to the duke''s decree.


    "The records show that it was then that the official motto of The City: ''Honesty, Loyalty, Frugality, Profit'' was decided on.


    "Late one afternoon the following spring, after the rains had slowed, a fancy carriage was spotted heading toward The City. There were two soldiers riding in front and two more behind, so everyone knew right away that whoever it was inside had to be someone important. That it ignored all the inns and headed straight to The Residence caused great excitement, and people from all over town could be seen running toward the square at the top of the hill."


    Mario interrupted Aldus'' narrative. "But, master, the maps show that the open area at the center of the city is circular not square."


    Ringvold huffed at him, "I don''t know why they call it a square when it''s really a circle. Now shut up Mario and let me get on with it.


    "Ahem... The Residence was still a wooden building, but, to give the duke his due, he''d been busy building up the town and had realized that he''d make more money in the long run if The City and the surrounding farms were prosperous."


    Aldus stopped to take a few swallows of ale. He''d been talking for a while now and his throat had become dry in truth this time. Mario had his eyes locked on him, so the boy probably hadn''t noticed that their table was now surrounded by most all of the other travellers staying at the inn. There were even some of the staff hovering at the edges who were obviously doing their best to listen while trying not to be noticed doing so.


    The innkeeper, Alicia Strongbow, seemed to be of two minds. She was clearly irritated by her staff slacking off, but, at the same time, she was also pleased, as sales of ale and meals were at least 50% higher than usual for this time of the evening due to a number of patrons who would otherwise have gone to eat at restaurants catering to pilgrims, or to their homes if they were locals, staying to listen to Aldus.


    As he surreptitiously scanned the room, Aldus noticed two of his listeners were merchants he''d planned on doing business with the following day. Normally there wouldn''t have been so many locals present, but a number always retreated to the inns as the noise from the Festa bells was substantially reduced this far out from the center of The City. Or so they said. He suspected that it was really an excuse to go out drinking since the locals were mostly resistant to the noise, but he''d always chosen not to look into the matter very closely.


    He continued speaking, as if only to himself, "Now that I think of it, all the dukes since then have likewise put the needs of their people ahead of their own wants, unlike some of those in the South." Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw smiles all around. He hid his own then continued his tale at his normal volume.

 Ch 3 - History Lesson (2)

    "Well then, after the carriage pulled up, and before the duke''s servants, who were still rushing out to assist whatever personage had arrived, could do anything, the carriage door flew open and a girl somewhere in her teens stepped down.  The duke himself arrived shortly thereafter.


    "Let me digress a bit.  One day I found a diary, written by the duke''s major domo at the time, in the library of the Little Cathedral.  And I''ll tell you, it was a fascinating read.  It impressed me so much that I memorized what I''m about to tell you word for word.  It took me a week, but it was worth it.  The author was Antonio Renaldi, the head of the Duke''s household and, eventually, Baron Renaldi."


    "The diary said: ''The young girl who stepped down from the carriage, most elegantly I might add, was an incredible beauty with flowing red hair, pale skin, and, dare I say it, adorable freckles.  I recognized her immediately in spite of not having seen her since she was 10.  It was Lady Carline Ashford, the daughter of Count Ashford of Milan.  Five years earlier she had been a charming girl who already had unusual insight into politics and finance, as well as the human condition in general.


    "To be entirely frank, she was the kind of girl that one and all professed to admire and whom nobody wanted to be close to.  This was primarily because courtiers tend to dislike people who can instantly see through them and their goals, and secondarily because she had not yet learned anything about tact and was likely to blurt out what they were plotting at the most inconvenient times.


    "It was all well and good that she knew that they were plotting something.  Everyone in court was always involved in one plot or another.  It was another thing entirely to have those plots dismantled in an instant, usually in public, by a child whom they didn''t dare silence.  Besides her causing the plotters significant embarrassment, it often cost them a great deal of money seeing as how everything they''d spent on bribes up to that point was now lost without anything having been gained from the expenditure.


    "Murder of adults was frowned upon, but, as long as it was made to look accidental, everyone pretended that they didn''t notice the true cause of death.  Murder of a child though, that was another thing entirely. On the extremely rare occasions where it did happen, the perpetrators were rewarded with immediate and exquisitely painful execution, usually without bothering with a trial.


    "I surmised immediately that she had been sent here to get her away from court so some serious plotting would finally have a chance to succeed for a change.  Regardless of the actual reason, seeing her gave me no end of delight.  I must admit here that the primary cause of said delight was simply because of her presence.  I would be free to spoil her as I always had when she was a child, and there would be nobody to complain.


    "It really wasn''t proper for me to be the one spoiling her, what with me being another''s servant, but I couldn''t help it.  Even at 10 she had a magnetic personality.  I suppose that I shouldn''t be admitting such affection even in these pages, but I can''t see that it matters as I''m the only one who will ever read this."


    Aldus paused to allow his audience to laugh and also to order more ale.  A number of others took advantage of the lull and also had their drinks topped up.  He had no financial interest in the inn, at least not yet, but goodwill with this particular innkeeper was extremely important to him, so he waited patiently till all had been served.  Once all the mugs had been refilled, he continued with his recitation.


    "My Lord the Duke had most definitely NOT been expecting her, as his expression was one of extreme shock.  When he addressed her, he actually stuttered, ''Ca..ca..Carline!  What are yo...you DOING here?''  It was very, well, unseemly behavior for a duke.  The nobility are NEVER supposed to look flustered in public.  I did notice that the onlookers did not seem to be at all offended.  Rather most of them were making visible and valiant efforts not to laugh.


    "So much happened in the next few minutes, and the hours thereafter, that, had I not determined to stay awake to record the incredible happenings, I doubt that I would have believed my own memories by the next day.  Thus here I am, completely exhausted, but I shall soldier on and write with quill and ink exactly what I beheld this past afternoon.


    "The Lady Carline looked up at my lord the Duke and, though it is hard to credit, I swear on my honor that her eyes appeared as if they were on fire.  She said,  ''My Lord Duke, when we were children, you promised to marry me when I came into my majority.  I am now 15 and legally of an age to be married.  My father, Count Milan, and your father the King have consented.  In addition, the Church has consented as long as, according to law, the ceremony joining two nobles our our ranks is approved by and performed by an archbishop or cardinal.''


    "I confess that at first these two statements seemed to have nothing at all to do with each other, and my confusion was extreme.  The reason behind their justaposition became evident momentarily.  Lady Carline turned to the carriage and held out an elegant hand.  ''Your Grace, may I request that you honor us with your presence?''


    "The person who then emerged from the carriage was none other than Archbishop Jefferey Landry.  He wore a simple priestly cassock, but he also wore an archbishop''s pectoral.  Upon his emergence, all present save the Duke and Lady Carline fell to their knees.  To be frank, I think it was more out of shock than in homage, as not one person in 20 had ever seen anything other than an ordinary priest or monk before.


    "Upon alighting from the carriage, he gazed at all who were gathered in the square and raised his arm in blessing.  As he did so, he had a most kindly smile upon his face.  After the blessing, he looked at my Lord the Duke, and I am not lying when I say that he had a twinkle in his eye that was both beneficent and mischievous.  Then he said, ''Duke Alphonse, Lady Carline, if you would please stand side-by-side facing me.''


    "Lady Carline hastened to stand at the right hand of my Lord the Duke and immediately took his hand in hers.  Then Archbishop Landry smiled and began to speak again, ''Duke Alphonse, having proposed marriage to Lady Carline of your own free will, and Lady Carline having accepted your proposal of her own free will, and as I have received with my own hand the written permission of both your father the King, and her father the Count, it is therefore my joyful duty to join you in holy matrimony.''


    "He looked around for a moment then asked, ''If you will present the rings for the blessing?''


    "The Duke was clearly in shock and was not, how shall I say it, ''coherent,'' nor, to be honest, was I much better.  Rings?  What rings?  My confusion was interrupted when I felt something being thrust into my left hand.  I looked down and saw someone dressed as a page boy.  It was Lady Carline''s little brother Carlos, who had been but six years old when I had last set eyes on him.  I opened the small box I found in my hand and beheld a beautiful, lady''s wedding ring, which I then proceeded to hand to the Duke.


    "He accepted it, numbly, then stood there without moving.  At that same time I saw a lovely young girl of about age 13, whom I also recognized.  It was Lady Carline''s sister Alena.  She was handing Carline what must have been a man''s wedding ring.  (As I made inquires later in the evening, I discovered that each had exited through the far door of the carriage and had circled around behind the crowd so as not to draw attention to themselves.)


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    "Archbishop Landry then said, ''I cannot very well bless the rings if I can''t see them, now can I?  Lift them up if you please.''


    "Both my lord and Lady Carline did so, he still moving as if in a daze, and she with her accustomed grace.  After the blessing the Archbishop said, ''Now children, each of you place your ring on the other''s finger.''


    "Once they had done so, he intoned, ''By the grace of God, and by the powers vested in me by the Church and by the King, I now pronounce you husband and wife.''


    "I presumed that the Duke was beginning to come out of his stupor as he began to mutter, ''Wa..wha...'' presumably planning to ask what had happened.  However any further speech was prevented by Lady Carline leaping upon him, wrapping her legs about his waist, and kissing him, most vigorously, directly on the lips.


    "That was an extraordinarily shocking breach of proper decorum, but, considering all the cheering that broke out, it was abundantly clear that nobody minded, not even the Duke who, though he strenuously denied it later, wrapped his arms about her as well and kissed her back as energetically as she was kissing him.


    "After the kiss, which was rather prolonged, and Lady, now Duchess, Carline had pulled back some, the Duke whispered, ''But Carline, you were four and I was 10 when I proposed to you.  I thought that we were playing.''


    "Her answer was, ''Was what we just did playing?''


    "He responded weakly, ''Well, no, I guess not.  To be truthful, I must admit that I shall probably be happier with you than with any of those maggots at Court who only wanted me because I was the son of the king.''


    (I suppose that I could have mentioned sooner that my lord was at least as outspoken as his new bride but it seemed a little, oh, I don''t know, disrespectful.  Now that I think on it, I''m certain that it was one of the primary reasons why they''d always liked each other so much.)


    "Duchess Carline snuggled into his chest and said, ''Good.  Now, carry me properly into our home.  We''ll have whatever wedding banquet your cook can cobble together, then we can excuse ourselves and do what married couples do on their wedding night.''


    She nodded her head and added, ''But I can''t become pregnant right away.  There''s too much risk for one as young as I, so we''re going to have to be careful for a few years.  Fortunately I brought an appropriate medication with me, so we can still enjoy each other as much as we want in the meantime.''


    "At that point the Duke blushed as red as a rooster''s comb, which was more than surprising given his dark skin, but he didn''t say a single word.  Rather he shifted his grip to that called a ''Princess Carry'' and took his new wife into The Residence."


    Aldus held out his now empty mug in no particular direction and soon found it removed and replaced by a full one.


    "The rest of the Baron''s diary is not particular pertinent to the main story.  It does say that the Archbishop took up residence in one of the local churches.  Shortly thereafter another church was built to commemorate the miraculous answer to the prayers of the townspeople regarding Duke Alphonso needing to get married.  At almost the same time, construction was begun on the, to them, huge building now called the ''Little Cathedral''.  Its foundations were barely complete four years later when Carline, who was then almost 19 years old, delivered her first children, a set of fraternal twins.  Their baptism was the first act of the Archbishop in the new cathedral, which was finished in record time, 57 years later.


    "It should be noted that their daughter Abigail eventually became Duchess Abigail and her brother Pasquale became her Chief Advisor.  Under their steady hands, the Duchy became ever more prosperous.


    "I think we can skip most of the ensuing 700 years for the nonce.  What matters is that building churches to celebrate anything significant became almost an obsession.  So here we are today in The City of The Bells with 263 churches, two cathedrals, four synagogues, three Hindu temples, three Buddhist temples, six mosques, one Shinto shrine, and one Daoist temple."


    Aldus pointed to his protege.  "And that my friend Mario is the problem.  For reasons that are now obscure, about 560 years ago at least two of the larger churches began to compete actively for new members.  They each decided that having a bigger bell tower would bring in more congregants.  Like so many bad ideas it spread like wildfire.  Within only a decade almost every church had joined in on what would, in other circumstances, be called an ''arms race''.  Eventually some ''genius'' hired a mage to reinforce the bells in his church so that they wouldn''t crack from being rung so often and, not incidentally, to make them louder.  Of course most of the other churches followed suit. The sound of all those enhanced bells in the oversize towers became so loud that it was causing deafness and miscarriages throughout the town and the nearby countryside.


    .      (When that mage finally left town, he retired to a huge estate in the south that he had purchased with his fees.)


    "Things got so bad from the noise that the duke at the time, Giovanni, decreed that only one church in each quarter of The City was to be allowed to sound the hours on any given day.  The churches were to be selected by lot a year ahead of time.  Rather surprisingly, given how popular his decree was with the citizens of The City, it remained in effect for only two years.  The churches formed a united front and protested the restriction, at least insofar as it affected the Festa, the feast days of the saints.  None wanted to yield precedence on such days.


    "After several months of negotiations, a compromise was arrived at.  The original decree allowing one church per quarter to sound its bells would continue to apply except on the Festa days.  However, all feast days of the various saints were to be celebrated together on the second weekend of each month.  On the Friday prior, beginning at 7 p.m., and lasting till five minutes after the hour, there were no restrictions on the ringing of bells.


    "Over the centuries, as buildings were torn down, or fell down from being shaken apart, new ones were put in their place.  It became standard practice to make the walls at least 3/4 of a meter thick and to make all doors and windows at least double.  Besides muting the sound, there was a substantial, unexpected benefit as building collapses due to earthquakes declined precipitously along with the death rate from said collapses...which lead to...what?"


    Ringvold stared at his companion and waited.


    Mario had been so caught up in the story that it took him a few moments to realize that he was expected to come up with an answer.  He thought briefly then blurted out, "Oh NO!  Not a church dedicated to the miraculous reduction in deaths formerly caused by earthquakes?"


    Aldus leaned back and crossed his arms.  After all the free ale he''d imbibed over the past hour he was feeling most mellow.  "Correct."


    Noticing a few scowls among the onlookers he hastened to add, "But it''s very hard to say that anything that resulted in a major reduction in deaths is NOT a miracle.  As a matter of fact, that particular church is rather prosperous, the reason being that pilgrims from all over Europe come to pray for protection from death by falling objects (trees/earthquakes/avalanches and such).   I suppose that their having a school of architecture attached to it that specializes in teaching how to build safe structures may also have an influence."


    Now seeing smiles, or at least neutral expressions, he continued with his tale, "One of the most interesting things about The City is that two of the largest congregations are those which teach the benefits of quiet and contemplation.  Neither one has a bell tower, and both have walls a full two meters thick."


    Aldus saw several people who were beginning to fidget and correctly assessed that it was time to wrap things up.  The only thing worse than being known as a teller of bad stories was being known as one who didn''t know when to shut up.  Besides that, he realized that if he had any more ale that night he''d likely be at something of a disadvatage in his trading on the morrow.


    Thus he stood and declared, "No matter what your beliefs in general are, the celestial blessing that resulted in the founding of this wonderful city cannot be thought of as anything but a miracle of the highest degree.  If you look at its history over the past seven centuries, its ongoing prosperity confirms that it is a very special place indeed.  Each and every person who visits here is blessed, and those who are born here are doubly so."


    He bowed, with great care, to the room in general and to the proprietor in specific.  In the latter case his attention was a bit more intense than the situation might have called for.  Seeing a warm smile on her face, he relaxed and smiled himself.  Then he waved to one and all and carefully draped his arm around Mario''s shoulders, apparently in friendship, but in reality to make sure that he didn''t fall on his face as they went up the stairs to their rooms.  Although it was only the middle of the evening, he intended to be up early enough that he could catch the merchants he planned to do business with the next day while they were still groggy from sleep and thus less able to negotiate sharply.

 Ch 4 - New Beginnings

    Alicia watched them go with some irritation. Though the average person wouldn''t have noticed anything amiss, she could tell that Aldus had had too much to drink and that he was covering by using Mario to steady himself.


    She had some serious thinking to do. She hadn''t wanted to consider the matter in question yet, but events rarely walk up to you and ask permission to turn your world upside down. Consequently she did what she usually did when she needed to think. She washed dishes. It was a relatively mindless task, and her staff had learned not to interrupt her when she was so engaged. She had a rather, let''s say "penetrating", voice when her ire was roused, and not one person working for her ever wanted to hear it pointed in their direction twice.


    So they worked around her, and she, as she liked to say, "thunk."


    One problem, and she had to admit that it was mostly hers, was her size. Her Scandinavian ancestry had left her unusually tall (at 176 cm) and big boned, with broad shoulders and, at least for The City, unusually wide hips and an overly generous bust.


    Aldus was a good 15 centimeters shorter than she was. On top of that, he was on the slim side and looked rather scrawny. Thus, at first glance, she appeared to weigh nearly twice what he did. She didn''t of course. With all that muscle on him, at 73 kilos she barely massed 5% more than he did. Still, it was embarrassing, especially when people remarked that when they were standing together her rear-end was wide enough that Aldus could completely hide behind it.


    Bah! She was ignoring the real question, which was: Did he feel the same way about her as she did about him?


    Before she could get herself any more depressed, she was interrupted by one of her newer, and most soft-spoken maids.


    Alicia rounded on her, intending to give her a piece of her mind, but the anxiety on Priscilla''s face cut her knee-jerk reaction off cold.


    "Whatever is the matter child? You look like someone almost scared you out of your skin."


    As Alicia hurriedly dried her hands, Priscilla spoke in almost a whisper, "I didn''t want to interrupt you Mistress, but you said that we should report right away when something upstairs was amiss."


    "Right you are child. So, what happened?"


    "It''s that merchant, Mr. Ringvold''s room. I heard loud voices coming from inside. They sounded sorta angry. When you hired me you said: ''Arguments in rooms oft-times spill out into the halls and then into the taproom. That''s why we need to nip them in the bud. It reduces breakage, both of things and of people.''"


    She hung her head and almost stammered, "So...that''s why I''m here Mistress."


    She added hurriedly, "I didn''t see anything amiss, but even so, you did give explicit orders."


    Alicia beamed at her. "Good work child. Let''s go see what''s going on."


    She frowned as Priss turned to leave. "That won''t do. You found the problem. You came to me, as was proper. But you''re not done yet. You need to learn to follow through to the end. Let''s go."


    So saying, Alicia walked briskly up the back stairs leading from the kitchen to the second floor, then carefully went to the appropriate door. As reported, there were loud voices, but it soon became apparent that the "voices" were only one voice that was changing in intensity depending on what was said.


    "Did you understand what was being said inside Priscilla?"


    "No ma''am. I only heard that it was loud, so I came to get you straightaway."


    "Very well. You''re dismissed to your usual duties. There''s probably not a problem here, but I''ll just listen a bit longer to make sure."


    Priscilla gave a sigh of relief then quickly headed up to the third floor.


    After Priscilla had exited up the stairs, Alicia carefully leaned toward the door and put her ear against it. Several minutes later a wide grin split her face. It looked like the problem she''d been so worried about wasn''t a problem after all.


    -----------------


    The next morning''s dawn came a bit sooner than Aldus had anticipated. At least that''s what his head was telling him. As a result, he decided that he needn''t be quite as early to call on his customers as he had originally planned. Negotiating while you had a hangover was much worse than dealing with a fully-awake client.


    Mario, having had no ale at all, was alert, chipper, and full of energy. That was a problem, but it was one that Aldus could deal with easily. When Mario entered his room, Aldus sent him off with instructions, to "observe the markets and learn how trading is done in this city. I also want you to report to me this afternoon with your observations on how things differ here from the other cities we''ve visited and on what techniques you think might work to our advantage when we deal with the locals."


    Mario nodded and gave a small, but respectful, bow. Then he trotted off to break his fast and afterwards to head up the hill to follow what was, to him, a perfectly reasonably order from his master.


    Aldus shook his head at the naivete of puppies like Mario, gently so as not to worsen his headache, then buried his head under the covers. Another two hours of sleep should put him in a more functional state.


    ---------------


    Almost immediately Mario noticed that the locals moved about at a steady, measured pace. As he was already feeling some aching in his legs after setting off from the inn at his usual brisk walk, he could easily see why. While the hill wasn''t all that steep, in fact the rise was barely perceptible, it was a long way to the top. Truth be told, he was so excited about exploring that he''d unconsciously been walking even faster than usual.


    Soon after, his legs decided that he should slow down too, Once he did, he noticed that a certain tension in those around him had disappeared. He reasoned that what he had been doing before clearly labeled him as an outsider.


    At his now more sedate speed, he took note of the clothing of those who were up and about. There really wasn''t any particular style that was worn, unless "no distinctive style" was the local style. Once he reached one of the market squares, he spent some time drifting with the crowd so he could get a feel for what was being sold here and how.


    In the tents along two sides were sellers of things like incense, religious figures, and various trinkets that might appeal to children or serve as souvenirs for friends and relatives "back home." The other two sides contained real storefronts which probably had the tradesmen''s living quarters above them. These were all selling items of higher quality, and price, though most were the same type of goods as those being sold in the tents. There were a few stores which were selling what appeared to be high quality, small wooden boxes and display pieces. Two more were selling jewelry of various sorts, with items of higher value displayed behind the counters.


    As he drifted along, he heard at least five distinct languages, as well as three dialects of Italian that he recognized and two others that he didn''t. At least he thought that they were probably Italian. While he was puzzling out the few words that he thought he might recognize given some effort, he gradually became aware of one particular person who also seemed to be drifting through the crowd.


    However, unlike him, she occasionally stopped to talk to the sellers and, less frequently, she also bought one or two things. Before he realized it, Mario had become fascinated by her, and not only because of how she looked.


    She was unusually tall for a woman, probably at least 180 cm, and she had darkish skin, though somewhat lighter than that of the traders he''d seen coming off ships from Africa. The part of her hair sticking out from under her scarf was as curly as theirs, but it was an attractive silver color, such as one saw among the Celtic people from the northlands. The color was probably due to that rather than her age, which he reckoned to be only around 35. Unlike the African traders, who uniformly had dark-brown eyes, hers were a striking, pale blue.


    Even among the highly variable clothing he''d seen so far, hers was distinctive. He didn''t recognize the style, but the cut of the fabric, and the material itself, were obviously of the highest quality. The bright white of her dress perfectly set off her skin and hair, and the effect was almost mesmerizing.


    He shook his head ruefully. In spite of all that, what had first drawn his attention was what she was buying rather than her appearance. He guessed that he really was a trader at heart! Some of the things she bought were obviously excellently made, but others seemed so much less so that one such as she wouldn''t be expected to buy them even as toys for her children.


    He stopped in an area between two tents and focused his attention inward, trying to figure out what her purchases had in common.


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    Soon thereafter he felt a "presence" in front of him. He looked up from his musings to find the woman in question staring down at him. "You''ve been watching me for quite some time boy. What are your intentions?"


    She was smiling, but, somehow, Mario felt that if he gave the "wrong" answer, he''d find himself regretting it, and probably very painfully.


    "Ah, excuse me ma''am. I''ve just arrived in town and my master sent me to observe how trading works here, and, well, I''ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out how the things you purchased could possibly be linked together."


    He looked up at her and winced at her stern expression. "That''s the truth ma''am!"


    He ducked his head, in preparation for being hit for his presumption. What he wasn''t prepared for was her response. He heard a hearty laugh, then a hand crept under his chin and pulled his head up to look at her face. "Well, well. An honest answer. Nowadays, one doesn''t hear such very often."


    She shoved her packages at him, turned around, and began to walk away. She stopped after a few paces and looked back over her shoulder. "Well, come on. Neither of us has all day. Let''s be going."


    Totally confused, Mario juggled her parcels into a manageable order, then did as she had bidden. He would no more disobey her than he would Master Ringvold, though, if asked, he couldn''t have told you why.


    She led him around several corners, into narrower and narrower streets, eventually arriving at a cafe that, while not very busy at this time of day, gave off the feeling that it was a very popular place with the upper classes. Seeing his "guide" greeted by name ("Miranda" was as elegant a name as she was herself) and bowed to a corner table by a person who appeared to be the owner, caused Mario''s eyebrow to rise in speculation. It seemed that he''d fallen in with an important person.


    She pointed to a shelf in an alcove to the side of the table, and Mario carefully placed her packages on it. He was unsure of what to do next until she pointed at the chair opposite hers. He seated himself gingerly and looked at her attentively and respectfully, as he had been painfully taught when an apprentice.


    "Not bad. You''re not quite there yet, but still, not bad for someone your age. Speaking of which, how old are you boy, around 17?"


    "Ah, yes ma''am, I mean no ma''am. I''m 16 ma''am."


    She tapped herself gently on the side of her face with the white fan that she held in her right hand. Mario could swear that he hadn''t seen her holding it earlier. Mentally he boxed himself on the ears again. He needed to pay more attention to what was going on around him.


    As he was working on better control of his face and body language, Miranda relaxed and enjoyed observing her new toy. They were so endearingly awkward during their teen growth spurts. Mario''s clothes were rather loose at the cuffs, which covered it up some, but both the arms and legs were about two centimeters too short.


    He''d probably be on the handsome side when he grew into himself, what with that cap of dark, curly hair that so many of those of Greek extraction had, that and his above-average height.


    She cleared her throat, and Mario gave her his full attention, not even noticing the server until he delivered a tray containing a pot of a delightfully fragrant tea and two cups. He poured for both of them then made a silent departure.


    Miranda studied him for a full minute, not saying anything at all, then, finally, nodded her head. "Very well boy. I think you''ll do well. First of all though, tell me your name. It seems only fair seeing that you know mine.... You DO know mine, don''t you?"


    "Yes indeed Lady Miranda. Ah, my name is Mario, Mario Brown."


    She said nothing but looked at him expectantly.


    Mario hastened to add, "I''m a journeyman assigned to Master Aldus Ringvold."


    Hearing that she nodded appreciatively. "Ah. Aldus. I''d wondered who he''d be bringing with him this time seeing as how Madeline has been promoted to Senior Journeyman. So you''re his new trainee. Well, well...."


    Mario was beyond shocked by her pronouncement, though he tried his best to hide it. Madeline Chastain had only been elevated to her new rank two weeks earlier. Who was this lady that she learned of it so quickly, and what was he getting himself into?


    Miranda slightly raised her left eyebrow and gave him a wry smile, obviously amused by his attempt to hide his surprise but at the same time acknowledging his attempt. "I think you''ll do quite well young Mario. Quite well indeed."


    She tapped her fan on her cheek again. "Let me make you a proposal. I''ll tell you why I bought the things I did, and, more importantly, I''ll teach you how to tell the finer quality local items from the lesser. How does that sound?"


    Mario felt like a cat that had discovered an unattended saucer of cream. He nodded his agreement several times, but was interrupted by her extended palm. "Not so fast child. Never make a deal until you''ve heard all the specifications."


    She frowned slightly, and he cringed in response. "You should have learned that some time ago. I''ll forget to mention that to Aldus, IF you promise not to do that again. Are we agreed?"


    Mario nodded slowly and carefully, and Miranda went on, "In exchange I want information from you as well. You tell me the stories of what you''ve seen and heard on your travels, and answer my questions. I can''t leave The City any more, and I miss the news from the outside world.


    "Well then, that''s the entirety of my proposal. How say you?"


    Taking a deep, slow breath to relieve the stress that had been building inside him after her reprimand, Mario answered as calmly as he could, "It is a more than fair proposal milady."


    He held his hand out in the formal gesture of contracting, "We are agreed."


    She mimicked his gesture then settled back. "Then let us begin. But first, we should have some tea. What they serve here is exquisite, and I don''t want it to get cold."


    After taking a few sips and leaning back comfortably in her chair she asked, "Tell me the name of this cafe and the street it is on."


    "This is the Black Cat Patio, and we''re on a street that seems to be called ''Ambleton'' if I read the sign correctly."


    Miranda sighed and sipped some more. The tea here really was uncommonly good, and she needed to rest. Specifically she needed at least another 20 minutes or so to recover the energy she''d expended when she''d cast her seeking spell on the marketplace.


    Most people knew that mages did things somehow, but they never realized that there was always a cost for a spell. They also expected chanting and arm waving and other such dramatics. While it was true that a rhythmic, spoken spell required less energy, and appropriate gestures reduced the cost even further, such things drew the attention of everyone in the vicinity. For various reasons, most mages preferred not to be noticed when working.


    The other reason for her fatigue was that casting a spell with multiple stipulations increased the cost, and it wasn''t just additive. Each stipulation doubled the energy drain, so her casting in order to attract someone who was honest, intelligent, discreet, a regular traveller, and young enough to suit her purposes took a lot of energy.


    She gestured for Mario to begin speaking. She soon noticed, with some satisfaction, that Mario was already rather good at painting pictures with his words. As he spoke, he reported some very interesting meetings that he had observed, although it was clear that he was as of yet too inexperienced to understand all their implications.


    This was going to work out very well. She would definitely keep her end of the bargain and teach Mario what he needed to know about the local crafts. As she continued to sip at her tea, she wondered when he would come to appreciate that she always got the best of any bargain she made. Most likely it would take Mario at least another 10 years. That would give Aldus more than ample time to finish his training and for Mario to find his own footing thereafter. Then she could fully recruit him into her organization.


    -------------------


    At the same time, Aldus was finally waking up.  His head was still not all there, but he was feeling at least somewhat better.  He also smelled something vaguely herbal.  He sat up, though with his eyes still closed -- things were overly bright for some reason -- stuck out his hand and then gulped down the contents of the mug that was placed in it.


    An acerbic, feminine voice began to admonish him, thankfully in almost a whisper, "Well Aldus you''re getting at least a little bit better.  You stopped drinking last night after you''d only had one mug more than you should rather than three or four as you would have five years ago.


    "You''re going to have to do better still, starting about right now I think.  It''s already bad enough that women tend to outlive their men by five to seven years, and with you being four years older than I am, I''ll be starting at a disadvantage.  If you truly want me, you''re going to have to take a LOT better care of yourself from now on.  AND you''re going to have to settle down here in The City after you''ve finished your new journeyman''s primary training next year.  Someone else will have to take over and complete it."


    Aldus'' eyes had flown open in astonishment at the words, "If you truly want me."  He''d never said a word to Alicia about wanting to marry her, yet here she was, right in front of him, looking at him very sternly yet at the same time with soft, warm eyes.


    He sprang out of bed...at least he tried to.  He''d forgotten to make sure that his feet weren''t tangled in the sheets.  He teetered back and forth for several seconds before he crashed back down.


    He looked up at Alicia with a faintly hurt expression.  Rather than sympathy, she had her arms crossed on her chest and was scowling at him.  "No way.  Not going to happen.  I''m not putting myself in that cliched situation where I try to keep you from falling and you pull me down on the bed with you."


    He considered trying to look innocent but gave it up.  She was at least as smart as he was.  If she hadn''t been, he''d never have been interested.  Therefore all he did was ask quietly, "If you would please help me get untangled?"


    Once she had done so he stood, carefully this time, and took both of her hands in his.  "Alicia Strongbow, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?  I solemnly promise to do my very best to live as long as I possibly can.  Frankly the idea of not having you in my life is too painful to contemplate, and I believe that I''ll feel the same way even after I die."


    Alicia stepped closer, wrapped her arms around him, and squeezed...and squeezed.  Almost immediately Aldus moaned, "Alicia dear, you''re a bit stronger than I''d expected.  Do you think you might moderate your grip before I pass out from lack of air?"


    She released him, stepped back slightly, then reached down and pulled his face up to be kissed.  Afterwards she murmured, "I accept your proposal, as well as the investment you''d planned to bribe me with to get me to agree."


    Seeing the astonishment on his face she grinned at him.  "No, I''m not a Foreseer, that''s Priss'' talent, but when a proprietor of an establishment such as this gets a report from her staff about the sound of an argument in a room where there should be only one resident, she obviously checks it out to make sure that there are no non-paying guests who have snuck in.


    "Priss couldn''t understand you and didn''t realize that you were talking to yourself, but my hearing is quite good.  I must admit that listening to you run through your potential proposals was extremely amusing, especially the part where you said: ''No, no that won''t work, I''ll sound like I''m trying to buy her.  But she knows I''m a businessman.  Ye gods!  Why don''t they teach you how to propose to the woman you love when you''re in the Merchant Academy''.


    "Frankly, it was very flattering to hear that you cared enough to put some real effort into it."


    Her smile lit up her entire face.  "Nobody else ever tried so hard to win me, which is probably why you''ve succeeded my love.  Now, let''s go get you some breakfast, and some nice cider to drink, shall we?"


    She stretched out her hand, took his, then led him down to the dining area.  They had a great deal to discuss seeing as they had to plan both a wedding and the integration of their several businesses.

 Ch 5 - Machinations

    In The Year 721 After the Founding


    At 17 years old, Paolo Donetti acted more like he was 11 or 12, and he fully intended to continue to do so as long as possible.  He''d realized by the time he was 10 that, even in these modern times, it was still not uncommon for children of his social status to be shoved into a betrothal as young as 11.  They were thereafter expected to act more like adults and less like children, something he had no intention of doing until there was no other choice.


    It was that knowledge which made his blood run cold, more than anything else he had learned in those first 10 years.  The idea of being trussed up and leashed to a girl for the rest of his life was something that he hadn''t wanted to even think about much less plan for.


    And speaking of plans, he''d devised one that had him patting himself on his back for his brilliance.  He pretended to be not all that smart.  Not dumb, that might have had him locked up somewhere, but a bit on the slow side.  He threw in a modicum of socially inept behaviors around those few who appeared at first to be willing to ignore his mental state (or perhaps because of it, thinking that he would be easy to manipulate).  Thus far it had worked quite well.  At least it had insofar as it warded off the parents of various potential brides.  His father was one of the most prominent bankers in The City, so there were quite a few social climbers (and those who were simply greedy) who considered Paolo a fine, potential son-in-law.  Until they met him....  So far he''d managed to scare them all off.  Maybe.


    For some reason, Sara Macklin, the daughter of one of his father''s minor partners, kept showing up at odd times and odd places where someone who wasn''t family ordinarily wouldn''t.  She even popped up in his dreams now and then.  It was most disturbing, and the worst part of it was that he couldn''t figure out why.  While it was true that she was moderately attractive, what with that long, wavy hair, those cute freckles, and grass-green eyes.  They were rather nice eyes now that he thought about it....


    He shook himself and tried to focus.  Thinking about what she looked like wouldn''t help figure out what was bothering him.  He knew that he was more intelligent than most folks, and, in the rare cases where he did exert himself, Paolo was an unusually good, analytical thinker.   But whenever his thoughts strayed to Sara his intellect always took an abrupt vacation.


    Well, for now at least, he''d not worry about that as he had something else on his mind.  Ordinarily he wasn''t a child who sought after possessions.  He''d realized long ago that while his family had a number of things that were of considerable value, their lives really weren''t much different from any other family''s.  It seemed that once one had a certain amount of goods and funds, having more didn''t do anything but increase how much you worried about having your valuables stolen and, more importantly, your work load.  It was the latter that truly bothered him, for he had a tendency to be lazy.


    Despite that, on the first of March, a day that was unexpectedly dry, he and his father Robert were walking down the street on some errand or another when Paolo spotted something out of the corner of his eye that shocked him so much that he froze in his tracks.  He turned to get a better look and beheld the most beautiful desk he''d ever seen.  At first glance, its appearance was rather modest compared to several others in the shop.  There were no fancy carvings or ornate handles on its drawers, but to Paolo it shouted out, "I was made by a MASTER craftsman.  I don''t need frills to make me look good.  If you want the best there is, take a look, because the best is ME!"


    Paolo didn''t drool, his manners were much better than that.  He might be acting "simple" but he couldn''t abide being embarrassed, thus his manners always suited his company when he wasn''t performing.  He could be boisterous with friends and impeccable when at a formal dinner.  Somehow he always knew which set of manners to use so as to best fit in.  Therefore he didn''t gawk.  He smiled sadly at the desk, for his savings over the past few years were woefully inadequate considering how much something of its quality was likely to cost.  He turned away and scurried to catch up with his father, who had continued on his way, not noticing Paolo''s delay.


    --------------------


    Some days later, when Paolo was eavesdropping on his parents'' nightly chat, he overheard something that was beyond interesting.  Eavesdropping was, of course, what he supposed you''d call a "bad habit."  However, he''d learned a great deal by listening to others'' conversations, especially when they didn''t know he was there.


    His father was expounding, "That''s quite true dear, but it doesn''t set well with me.  Oh, I know that others'' parents give their children ridiculously expensive gifts if they do well in school, but I don''t like the idea that one must bribe one''s children to ensure their diligence.  It teaches the wrong lesson.  Growing up thinking only of how much money you''ll get by doing well leads to all sorts of unsavory habits.


    "That being said, giving one''s child a gift, even a substantial one, when one does well, oh, say in the Citywide Examinations after one''s final year of secondary school, is not inappropriate, as long as both the parents and child understand that it''s a one-time reward for true, self-motivated effort rather than part of an ongoing payment."


    `    Robert and Miranda said nothing for several minutes.  Paolo knew that there wouldn''t be much else of interest to hear, so he stealthily crept away and up the stairs to his room, his head swimming with possibilities.


    Shortly thereafter Robert whispered, "He''s left now, hasn''t he Manda?"


    "Yes dear. Just as he always does when he thinks we''re through talking.  He''s rather sneaky and clever, but then he IS our son."


    Robert laughed. "Indeed. He inherited the cleverness from me, and his sneakiness from you.  I knew that marrying you and making you my silent partner would be extremely profitable."


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Seeing the look on her face he hastened to add, "For in married life as well as business, of course!"


    They both chuckled, then she asked, "Do you think he''ll take the bait?"


    "There''s absolutely no doubt about it.  If you''d seen the way he was looking at that desk at Flora''s last week....  I''m absolutely certain that he''d do about anything to have it.  And by the way, that one has quite an eye for quality.  He zeroed in on the best desk in the store instantly, even though its outward appearance is on the plain side.


    "That''s why I had Sven go out and buy it immediately after we got home.  It''s sitting in the large storage room at the bank as we speak.  If, for some reason, Paolo should ask at Flora''s where it is, the staff will just say that it''s been moved to storage temporarily."


    He shrugged his shoulders.  "Actually, it will be the truth, just not in the way he''s going to interpret it."


    She smiled.  "I suppose I can live with the truth now and then, especially when it''s been bent in such a creative way."


    Had Paolo still been listening, his surprise at hearing that his parents knew he''d been eavesdropping would have been as nothing compared to his astonishment when his mother added,  "It looks as if Sara is doing very well with her campaign too.  From what I''ve seen, he''s totally besotted with her, though it''s evident that he doesn''t yet have a clue.  Whenever I catch him looking at her, he has a puzzled look on his face, quite like a puppy that''s trying to figure out if a new dog it meets is something to play with or run away from."


    "That''s a relief, and very interesting too.  They''ll be a lot like us, but more like a mirror image.  He''s clever, but, in truth, he takes more after you than me.  He''s the sneakiest little bastard I''ve ever met, and Sara, well, I doubt that there are more than five people in The City as smart as she is.


    "Whatever they end up doing, anyone who''s their competitor will never know what hit them."


    At that point they shared a warm, and, truth be told, somewhat predatory smile then lapsed into a companionable silence.


    There was one thing that Paolo''s parents hadn''t realized.  Like most parents, they were far too busy congratulating themselves over the success of their "desk gambit," as they came to call it, and their plans for Paolo and Sara''s future, to realize that what he''d heard might start him plotting something himself.  After taking himself off to his room, he''d spent an hour or so looking at the situation from first one angle and then another until he''d puzzled out all the ramifications as best he could.  What he finally concluded was more than a little exciting.


    Then he did something that very few human beings could manage when they were excited.  He turned over in his bed and went to sleep.  He''d learned several years earlier that, while it might be fun to lie in bed at night and gloat over one''s plans, by the next morning it left one feeling nearly as bad he imagined someone with a hangover might.  As a result, he''d ruthlessly trained himself to go to sleep when he was through thinking.  He soon discovered that his plans worked much better when he was well rested, which resulted in a strong motivation to continue to do so.


    -------------------


    Although Paolo had developed a certain skittishness whenever he saw Sara in places where he usually wouldn''t, he felt no such thing at school, where they had been classmates ever since their first year of primary school 13 years earlier.  The Chapman School was neither the largest nor the most prestigious secondary school, but it was generally well regarded.  Consequently the children of a number of the more successful merchants and those in financial circles sent their children there.


    At lunch the day after coming up with his plan, he explained it to Sara.  As usual they were sitting side-by-side and, fortunately, their friends who usually ate with them were all off doing something else.  Paolo had vaguely noted that, over the past six months or so, their friends seemed to have become occupied with things that took them away from their usual group lunches at increasingly shorter intervals.  The reason was that all of them had seen the growing attraction between Sara and Paolo and were being considerate enough to give them time alone.


    Paolo, oblivious as always, but grateful for the opportunity given how excited he was, leaned toward Sara and whispered, "Look, there''s this desk I want to buy, but it''s going to cost at least 1000 ducats, and I only have a little over 400.  There''s no way I can get the money together by getting a part-time job that will pay me enough before the desk is sold.  But...I have an idea that will make me a lot of money in the next two months.  Will you help me out?"


    Sara leaned closer to Paolo, until her right arm was firmly in contact with Paolo''s left.  It let anyone who hadn''t noticed previously know that she was claiming Paolo as hers.  It also made Paolo blush in a way that was most gratifying to her, and it gave the misleading impression that they were talking about something romantic rather than plotting about money.  I suppose I should also mention that seeing her lustrous, mahogany hair cascading over his back evoked substantial envy in a number of their classmates.


    "Given the timing, I presume that this has something to do with the betting on the City Exams on May 15th and 16th?"


    Paolo beamed at her.  "Exactly.  We have a big advantage as our school isn''t as well-known as a number of the others.  That should improve the odds I get when I bet on you coming out on top."


    He frowned thoughtfully.  "Well, I''ll get better odds if I bet on you to win, but, should I go for a top five placement instead?"


    Sara leaned even closer and brought her lips to within an inch of his ear.  "I think, given the overall situation, that now would be the right time to let it be known how things stand, with regard to several things.  Of course I can take first position, and I also know what you can do.  And that, amore, is my condition for helping you.  I''ll take first place if you promise to place in the top five."


    Then she blew in his ear, which made him jump away from her, exactly as she had intended.  A little punishment for being such a blockhead in the romance department was definitely in order.  Also none of those watching would now ever suspect the discussion of being about gambling.


    Paolo was so fixated on being able to buy the desk that had so infatuated him that he had completely missed it when Sara called him "amore."


    Both of them had been cheating, or perhaps it would be better to say "manipulating" their test results for several years.  Paolo did it the easy way, by only studying enough to maintain his ranking in school at the top of the lower third of their year.  Sara had it much harder, as she had to intentionally miss questions so as to maintain her ranking at the bottom of the top third.


    He did so to reinforce the character he wanted to present to the world.  Her goal was to make it easier to maintain friendships with girls who were not as bright as she was and might otherwise not want to associate with her if she were always first in the exams.  Her current ranking also allowed her to associate with those with the highest scores.  One never knew which connection to whom might become useful in the future.  Besides, she truly enjoyed having a large number of friends.

 Ch 6 - City Exams

    The only thing Paolo''s parents noticed over the next two months was that he was spending a great deal more time in his room than was his wont.  That and that there were frequently a number of  books missing from the family library.  They assumed, rightly, that he was studying his head off.  They also assumed, wrongly, that it was so his father would buy him the desk he coveted.  The thought that he intended to buy it himself never crossed their minds.


    Betting on the exams was not allowed in the final week before they took place, so they had seven weeks to get their plan organized.  Both had intuitively realized that if either one of them went to one of the higher class bookies and wagered all their money on someone, the odds would instantly be adjusted against them.  Instead, they executed their plans very carefully.


    Not wanting to rush things, which might make the bookies start to compare notes, each of them visited two or three a day, with Paolo wagering as little as 12 silver grossi with some bookies in the less affluent districts, or as much as 10 ducats with another.  Their techniques, while substantially different, ended up giving the same impression.


    Paolo would say something like, "There''s this girl at the Chapman School.  She''s really smart, and really pretty, and I think she''s going to do well in the City Exams, so I want to be able to tell her that I''ve bet something on her."  Each bookmaker instantly figured that he wanted to show this girl his receipt as a means of manipulating her into going out with him.  When the bookies found that he also wanted to bet on her to place first, he found himself being offered initial odds anywhere from 30 to 40 to 1.  They might have been better, but she was on the list of the top 500 students in The City, albeit only at number 441.


    Once in a while, when he was with friends who knew he was smarter than he let on, he subtly dropped hints that he''d bet on Sara.  Several of them also ended up placing bets on her, usually to be in the top five or top ten.  The odds gradually dropped lower, but that also served Paolo''s purpose, which was to be one of several betting on a girl who was slowly becoming well enough known to have formal odds listed on the bookie''s boards.


    After seeing this, a number of people who had nothing in mind but what they''d win if that "long shot girl" won, also placed bets on her, which suited the bookies perfectly.  Having another, apparently weak, competitor on the board allowed them to shorten the odds on the stronger contenders a hair.  Regardless of who won, they''d make money, just as the house always does.


    Sara used a different tactic entirely.  She''d approach the bookie,  holding her elbows tightly against her sides, with her arms bent, her palms facing upwards, and making her hands into fists.  Then she''d lean forward and make an ingenuously vague but enthusiastic expression.  "There''s this boy, uh, you know, and, ah, well, I think he''s going to do well in the exams, so I, uh, want to bet on him.  Is that all right?"


    They''d ask his name, and look through the book listing the top 500 students in The City. When they didn''t find him, they''d beam at her and say, "Of course you can.  How much are you interested in betting?"


    She split her bets between top five and top 10.  She believed in him, and she knew how smart he was, but what she didn''t know was how much he could catch up after slacking off for the past six years.  In her case she got initial odds of between 15 to 1 and 25 to 1.  The bookies thought that they were cheating her outrageously, when his odds, even for a top ten placement, should have been more like 50 to 1.


    Sara was content with the odds though, as she was wagering about five times as much as Paolo was.  Ever since she had turned 15, the legal age for gambling up to 20 ducats, she''d been slowly building her savings with her winnings.  Like Paolo, she didn''t want to draw too much attention, and, like him,  had let a few people know about what he was going to try to do.  Unlike him though, all of the people she talked to were adults, and each person she picked out was one of those who hadn''t been fooled by his act.  They were from all over The City, and in total wagered enough that her payouts would be tiny compared to theirs, and thus unremarkable.


    -------------------------


    What with there being well over 1,000,000 ducats wagered on the results of the exams each year, there were at least a tiny number of people willing to cheat in order to make sure that the ones they had bet on won.  Fortunately there was a much larger group of people who wanted to make sure that nobody cheated, and they were willing to go to extreme lengths to prevent it.  This latter group consisted of almost every merchant in The City, all the casinos, the bookies, the Duchess, and the Guard.


    The merchants and casinos wanted to be sure that the party surrounding the exams took place every year, and that it stayed very, very large.  They stood to lose a lot of money if it didn''t.  If a cheating scandal arose, the number of visitors coming to town for the celebration the next year would plummet, as would their profits.


    The Duchess didn''t want the reputation of The City, and thus hers by extension, tarnished by any cheating.


    And then there was the Guard.  Their interest was much more pragmatic.  The didn''t want to have to bother with quelling brawls and investigating the random, and not so random, murders that had accompanied the few episodes of cheating that occurred in the past centuries -- before the current safeguards were put in place.


    Each year, before the tests were distributed, public announcements were made reciting the law regarding disclosure, in any form, of the questions prior to the test.  Inasmuch as the tests were considered public documents, and manipulating the contents of public documents affected the entire population (at least to some degree), the penalty for so doing was life on the road gangs.  As a matter of fact, falsification of public documents was the only crime where there was no appeal allowed once one was convicted.  There was no statute of limitations for this crime either.  Even the penalties for killing someone were sometimes less severe.


    Said safeguards were perhaps a tad more than were necessary.  In fact some considered them draconian, but the appearance of honesty was as important as the real thing.  In addition to the anti-cheating law, all students competing in the exams had to be identified by two staff from their school  before they were allowed into the exam rooms.  Only 12 students were allowed in each room, three in each of four widely separated rows.  Even then the exams were different for each student insofar as the questions appeared in a different order on each exam, although the questions were the same otherwise.  It''s rather difficult to copy the answer to a question if those near to you are working on different problems.


    Each exam was numbered, and checking the numbers as the exams were distributed to the examinees, and then again when gathered, was done by two people, one from the school and one from the Guard or Militia.  Once the time for each day''s tests had expired, two members of the Guard or Militia entered each room and escorted the proctor to the street.  Once there, the tests were placed in a locked chest that was escorted by a half squad of Militia.  The master list matching examinee to each numbered test was held only by the Duke or Duchess so nobody knew who had written which test until the grading was finished.


    At The Residence each subject was graded by those of the appropriate discipline.  In subjects where essays were required, at least three people reviewed each.  Spelling, grammar, and punctuation were scored as well as clarity and logic.  (It should be said that interpretations of history and philosophy that were...shall we say...unconventional, were common.  But they could be graded as highly as those supporting the official position, IF the arguments presented made sense.  In cases of significant disagreement, the final determination was made by scholars brought in each year from Rome.)


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Once again, this could be considered significant overkill, since any essay that could result in such spirited discourse was invariably written by someone who excelled in the exams as a whole.  Even so, nobody was ever inclined to do away with that rule, especially the visiting scholars.  Those evaluating the controversial papers rarely had the time or incentive to get together otherwise, and, outside of their brief scoring duties, they tended to spend their time in The City partying and saying nasty things about each other''s research.  In other words, they had a great deal of fun and always left with a strong desire to return the following year.


    By the day of the announcement of the results, always the Monday following the exams, every inn in and around The City, and all temporary lodgings in The City were always full.  Hundreds more people camped on the public greenways outside the city walls.  An hour prior to the announcement of the names of the top ten students, and the posting of the names of the rest of the top 100, one member of the Guard or Militia and also one soldier from the army post nearby were assigned to protect each of The City''s bookmakers.  First of all, they didn''t want any of them to run away without paying their debts.   Secondly, they didn''t want riots resulting from all the winners trying to get paid at the same time.  Not to mention that there had been some occasions in the past where thieves had attempted to steal whatever they could get their hands on in the confusion.


    The casinos were expected to provide their own security.


    -------------


    On the morning of the third day after the exams, the square in front of the Ducal Residence was nearly full an hour ahead of time.  The main streets leading up to it were almost as crowded.   A large number of lives were about to be changed, and nobody wanted to miss the show, or the opportunities. By law and custom, the area directly in front of the gates was reserved for the examinees.


    Even though slightly over 2,000 had taken the exam, only those who knew that they''d done well, and those who hoped that they''d done well claimed a place.  Therefore it was most common that only about 400 examinees appeared.


    A fair number of the audience were businessmen, naval and army officers, and representatives of various Crown offices who had traveled to The City for the sole purpose of hearing the results.  It had been discovered several centuries earlier that any graduate who scored in the top 100 in this particular city had the potential to excel in whatever field of endeavor they chose.  The recruiters who had gathered had an intense desire to be those whose businesses were so chosen.  Most would receive a substantial bonus for hiring one of the top 100.  In the highly unlikely event that they snagged one of the top 10, the bonuses were tripled. Should the person hired do well, or exceedingly well, the one who hired them could receive the same amount as another bonus five years later.


    Most of the students present had their futures already planned, but there were always some who were as of yet undecided, and others willing to change their plans if  given a large enough incentive.


    Promptly at 10 a.m., the decorative, wrought-iron, inner gates of The Residence swung open, Duchess Henrietta strode to the temporary stand erected for the event, and the crowd hushed.  She was a no-nonsense person, though one with a wicked sense of humor when in private, and she disdained the "frippery" of horn fanfares and such.


    The first time she''d spoken in public, when she was 19 years old, some few people in the crowd had continued their personal conversations.  The Duchess had stopped speaking and had the Guard remove the offenders from the room.  Ever since then, her audiences had been most attentive.  Fortunately she always had something interesting to say and, even more fortunately, had the ability to convey what she wanted concisely.  Nobody ever complained about her being boring.


    Thus she began speaking immediately after mounting the stand, "This year was most unusual, for three reasons.  First of all, there won''t be a listing of the top 100 this year.  Instead we will be posting 108 names.  The final 37 examinees had nearly identical scores, and it would be a dis-service to them and to the community as a whole not to recognize them properly.  Secondly, the scores of these top 108 averaged 21 points above the average for the top 100 in the past 50 years.  Denying such excellence would be a crime.


    "Oh, and one other thing.  We are not differentiating the rankings of these 37 people.  Therefore each will be ranked as number 71 for the purposes of determining the results of people''s bets. Our bookmakers may be a bit upset, but, if they think about it for a while, denying payment for bets made in good faith would likely result in various unpleasantnesses for them at the hands of the bettors.


    "The final bit of unusual news is that many of The City''s bookmakers will find that they have either made more or less money than they anticipated.  I say this as even I, with all my resources, was only able to predict the names of four of the top 10.  The other six surprised me, pleasantly, as I do hate being bored, and these, ah, ''upsets'' is what I suppose you can call them, were definitely surprising.


    "Now, without further ado, I''ll begin as always with the name of the person with the highest score.  I should like to add that this person received not only the highest score this year, but the maximum possible score.  The last time someone managed this extraordinary achievement was 83 years ago.   I should also like to add that her future plans have already been made, and I will not be pleased should any of you gentle-beings from out of town try to hire her.  Do I make myself clear?"


    Seeing nodding and not a few pale faces in the crowd, she smiled down at them and said, "Very well.  Sara Macklin stand forward.  You are this year''s top scorer."


    The announcement was initially met by dead silence as very few people knew her at all much less that she was a good student.  Then the silence was punctured here and there by the raucous shouting of those who had bet on her, and good-hearted cheering by her friends, some of her other classmates, and her proud parents.


    The name the duchess next announced, once Sara had come to stand beside her, was prefaced by, "This young woman is one of those I personally predicted would do well.  I almost wish that I were allowed to bet on this, but that could have been considered cheating.  Oh well...  Kaho Fukui, come forward."


    A willowy young woman whose face was suffused with a brilliant blush came forward with careful steps, bowing to one and all as she passed.  As her results HAD been generally expected to be excellent, her name was met with substantial and general applause.


    "Now for our third place finisher.  Frankly this young man is one who I had never before heard of as a contender.  However, after learning the names of our top scorers last night, I arranged a meeting with his parents for early this morning so I could find out something about him...and so I wouldn''t look like an idiot when I announced his name and had nothing to say.  As I now have met his parents, and heard his story, I do have something pertinent to say, and that is this:  Those who act due to strong motivation can exceed even their own expectations.  Paolo Donetti you are a fine example of what such motivation can accomplish."


    Everyone from his class cheered wildly, having mistakenly assumed that he studied so hard in order to impress Sara.  A few others cheered because they had followed Sara''s advice and had bet on him.  Again the impression left on the crowd was in accord with Sara and Paolo''s planned misdirection.


    Soon the names of the seven other top scorers were announced, and all 10 had gathered on the stand to the right hand of the Duchess.  She wrapped up her part of the ceremony by shaking the hands of each while the Guard posted two copies of the names of the other 98 top scorers.  Each was placed 20 meters to either side of the gate so as to keep the crowds checking the results from interfering with the passage of those needing to enter The Residence on business.


    The Duchess finished by saying, "You are all well begun, and I expect that you will all continue to do well in your service to your families, your cities, and your countries."


    Then she scowled at them and added, "Now don''t you disappoint me.  If you do I''ll be very upset, and you don''t want me upset with you, do you?"


    All shook their heads "no" in unison, each looking a bit desperate.


    Henrietta winked and grinned at them then took herself back into The Residence.  Unlike most of the others in the square, she still had a great deal of work to do.

 Ch 7 - Party Aftermath

    Hiroshi took a slow, deep breath then even more slowly exhaled. It had proven to be a most enlightening and interesting day. After the children had been put to bed, Blair had suggested that since neither of them had anything urgent pending for a change, they too might want to "celebrate" the engagement. Said celebration had lasted over an hour.


    Blair was snuggled up against his chest, apparently deeply asleep. He, on the other hand, was wide awake. His mind was much too busy for sleep, no matter how comfortable he was. He needed to do some serious re-arranging of a few of his attitudes, and now would be better than later. As Blair had hinted earlier in the evening, urgent matters might interfere if he put this off, and that might cause problems.


    The root cause of his concern was Sara, or, more particularly, her abilities. His agents, usually the best ones, had a tendency to think that they could, with proper planning, overcome anything and anyone. Some few of them convinced themselves that nobody could be as good as they were. As any commander knows, that kind of person usually was proven wrong when they took on something they shouldn''t have and ended up very messily dead. This created two problems. A good agent was no longer going to be available, and those who killed them would be asking questions that would be embarrassing at best and deadly at worst.


    Which was where Sara came in. She was, without a doubt, the best student of karate that he''d ever had or could hope to have. Ever since she was 10 he''d used her to disabuse his agents with swelled heads of the idea that they were invincible. The smartest ones got it the first time Sara threw them across the room. Even the most stubborn absorbed the lesson after she''d put them on the floor four or five times.


    In addition to proving that they weren''t as good as they thought they were, it also drove home the lesson that just because something or someone doesn''t look dangerous, it in no way assures that they aren''t. Complacency can get you dead too.


    He was very proud of his eldest daughter. When the family was forced to flee Japan in his childhood, he''d found that he could do nothing to help during the journey. He didn''t even know how to search for dry firewood. It had galled him when even the youngest children they encountered looked at him with pity as they expertly performed tasks that he didn''t even know existed.


    It was then that he''d learned three lessons.


    1) Wealth was worthless when someone strong enough to take it away from you decided that they wanted it, and you had no ability to defend yourself.


    2) Children, if properly trained, can be much more than most adults realize.


    3) There were times when, no matter how reluctant you were, you had to let go of things no matter how much you prized them.


    It was because of the first two that he''d thrown himself so diligently into learning karate when they''d spent those seven years in Okinawa. It was also the reason why all his children were trained in self-defense from an early age. Oh, yes, when they were little he made it a game. Pushing too hard at too young an age would have only made them bitter and rebellious.


    The third lesson was now keeping him awake. Specifically he was mightily annoyed with himself, and the trigger for said annoyance was Sara. His plan had been to continue using her for when agents needed, oh, "fine tuning" would do he supposed, and she would take over for him someday. Tonight had not just tossed a rock, but had thrown a boulder through that window.


    Sara had made it obvious that his plans were of no account. She had her own goals in life, and they didn''t include what he''d planned. No, they hadn''t discussed it, but, after putting together a number of little things he should have noticed earlier.... He had no excuse for his egotistical thinking.


    Her goals were to have a family and to pursue an academic career. She''d told him a few days earlier, in passing, that she''d applied for an assistant''s position at the library of the Cathedral of Whispers. Such a kind girl she was. They could have done what happened in so many families and argued about it for days, or weeks. Instead she had gently let him know how things were without making an issue of it.


    Fortunately his brain was now functioning, and he hadn''t made a fool of himself in public. He could be grateful for at least that. As for what he''d do next with the problems arising from the situation, well, that could wait for another day. For now he intended to just enjoy being with his wife.


    Blair raised her head and asked, "So you''ve sorted it out, have you? Whatever it was or is?"


    "How did you know that I...."


    "Dearest, your whole body was tense. It''s especially noticeable when our skin is touching. Just now you relaxed, which always means that you''ve figured out whatever it is and are ready to move on to whatever you need to do next.


    "And speaking of moving on, since we''re both awake, why don''t we continue from where we left off. It''s not all that late yet, and we might be able to relieve any remaining tension you might unconsciously be feeling."


    Hiroshi nodded. "You''re very wise my dear. Now that I think of it, that''s an excellent suggestion. Why don''t we do just that?"


    Later, when he was finally drifting off to sleep, he realized that, as usual, Blair was right. He was totally relaxed, both in mind and body. Maybe they should make time to repeat this "tension relieving" process a bit more often in the future.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ------------------


    Saturday, May 24, in The Year 721 After the Founding


    Shortly after breakfast the next morning, Robert appeared at Paolo''s door. He was accompanied by four of the bank''s clerks and an equal number of guards. Collecting Paolo''s coins from the various places in his room where he''d hidden them, carrying them to the bank, counting them all twice, and then recording the deposit took several hours.


    There were a few raised eyebrows among the customers doing business when the clerks, guards, and senior partner marched in, but that was the only visible response. This particular bank dealt only with the "upper crust" and, while somewhat unusual, such large deposits were not rare enough to cause any major excitement.


    What it did though was reinforce the idea in the customer''s minds that this bank was THE right bank for them to use. Obviously whoever was making this deposit trusted the bank implicitly. Normally one doesn''t send off such a large amount of money without going along oneself to make sure that all of it ends up where it is supposed to go. At the same time, the small parade also emphasized that the privacy of the bank''s customers would be respected, as not a word escaped the lips of anyone passing through that might give a hint as to whose money it was. Finally having one guard for each clerk reinforced the idea that the bank believed in strong security. Many smaller banks would have used two, or possibly even only one guard.


    Of such little things was a reputation made, which is why Robert had brought them all in through the front door and had Paolo enter through the back.


    ---------------


    When Paolo finally got home he was not in the best of moods. His father had insisted that he observe the entire process of counting, sorting, and depositing the money. When two of the coins were found to be debased copies, his father had spent 30 minutes explaining how to detect them and then testing Paolo (and the clerks) until they could identify the false coins every time.


    He gloomily trudged up the stairs toward his room but, realizing that nobody was around to see or hear his performance, he sprinted the rest of the way up the three flights as he usually did. While it was inconvenient being in the highest room, and as eldest son he could easily have chosen one more spacious, he reveled in both the privacy and the view.


    At the top of the stairs, he pushed open the door of his room then froze in astonishment. He rubbed his eyes to make sure that he wasn''t hallucinating, much as Sara''s father had when he saw the piles of money in her room. However what Paolo beheld wasn''t money but something much more valuable to him. It was the desk from Flora''s.


    Questions flitted through his mind and, like swallows capturing insects on the fly, he chased each one down so as to examine it. Question #1. Why was it here? Answer: Obviously his parents had bought it. Question #2. How had they known that he wanted it in the first place? Especially since his father had shown no sign that he''d noticed Paolo''s interest. Answer: This was a bit harder and a bit more complex.


    1) His father was clearly more observant than Paolo had ever imagined.


    2) Much as he loathed admitting it, seeing as how it battered his lofty self-impression of his skills, the only possibility was that his parents had known that he was listening at the door that night two months ago when they discussed the good and bad reasons why parents would give their children valuable gifts.


    Finally Question #3. What were the chances that his mother, for surely it was she who''d spotted him somehow, would teach him how to be completely undetectable when he was being sneaky?


    Answer: If he took some time to figure out the best approach and how to word it, his chances were probably fairly good. Based on occasional, apparently chance remarks his parents had made over the years, he had come to understand that, while not directly involved in banking, his mother somehow collected and provided to her husband a great deal of information that was definitely not public knowledge.


    He threw himself down on his bed and, over the next several hours, dredged up as many of those "chance remarks" as he could remember and did his best to truly divine the meaning behind them. At the end of that time he came to the conclusion that his parents were far more cunning and sneaky than he''d ever imagined. They also they had to be involved in much more than the banking business. Some of the things he''d overheard had nothing at all to do with finance.


    He also realized that there was an extremely high likelihood that there was nothing "chance" about anything that he''d heard. The reality was that he''d been played by them, probably ever since he was old enough to talk. On second thought "played" was the wrong word. The word he finally settled on was intensely irritating, because he was, as I''ve said before, a bit on the lazy side. The word he''d come up with was "trained." He didn''t like doing extra school work even if he hadn''t known at the time that that''s what it was. They''d been training him for...something. He had no idea what, but he did intend to find out. He could, of course, ask them. However, that wouldn''t be nearly as much fun.


    Realizing that his subtle attempts to manipulate his parents had, in reality, probably been as heavy handed as a muleteer when dealing with a recalcitrant animal, he decided to go to his mother and ask for instruction rather than trying to be subtle. But that was going to have to be after he''d organized his belongings on his new toy. His energy level was now too high for lying abed, so he got himself up and decided to take a closer look at his desk.


    First he explored all the nooks and crannys. He pulled out all the drawers and examined their construction, opened and closed all the little doors so as to admire how smooth the action was, and generally familiarized himself with its severe beauty and craftsmanship. Near the end of his examination he found what was probably the maker''s mark. It was only the letters J/K enclosed in a circle. Like the desk itself, the mark was altogether elegant. He didn''t recognize it, but he wasn''t an expert in furniture. He could always ask at Flora''s later.


    It was getting to be close on to dinner time, so he went to his dresser and checked himself over in the mirror. His parents didn''t tolerate sloppiness of dress or behavior at dinner. Satisfying himself that he was presentable, he turned around and headed toward the door. Arriving several minutes early would leave a good impression. At least that was his plan.


    His turning engendered a sense of unease that he couldn''t quite put his finger on. Only a moment passed before he realized what was wrong. There was a book sitting squarely in the middle of the desk. It was, oddly enough, almost the same color as the wood, and it even seemed to have a bit of grain, as if it were somehow mimicking the surface it was lying on. For a second Paolo thought that perhaps he''d missed seeing it earlier, but he dismissed that thought instantly. He''d rubbed his hands all over the top of the desk when he was checking it out, luxuriating in the satiny feel of the wood. There was no way he could have missed the book.

 Ch 8 - Something New

    There was lettering on the cover and it seemed almost to be glowing slightly. He shrugged his shoulders. It was probably an effect of the afternoon light coming through the window. The title now, hmmm...that was interesting. He could, of course. read it. He could read four languages passably well, but it didn''t make sense. It said:


    The City of The Bells


    An Exercise In


    Temporal Engineering


    He understood what this kind of "exercise" meant. And "engineering" was something that the people who built bridges and ships and such engaged in. Temporal, well, the only meaning he could dredge up was that it had something to do with time.


    He puzzled at it for almost a minute but drew no closer to an answer. He shrugged again. If you don''t have enough information to draw a conclusion, go find more. He winced as he recognized that concept as one his parents had drilled into him over the years and wondered briefly how many others would eventually pop up unannounced like this one had.


    Opening the cover with his left forefinger, he saw a title page, no different from that in many other books, but the following page was a surprise. At the top it said: "Table of Contents." Then there was a listing, obviously of various subjects, followed by what had to be page numbers. What a marvelous idea! Why hadn''t anyone ever thought of it before? He could have cut his study time over the past two months by a third, or maybe even by half if he''d been able to turn right to the page he wanted instead of having to search through entire volumes to find the few bits of information he needed from each.


    The subjects were listed without any embellishment, but he found himself becoming more and more excited as he read further.


    The Founding of The City


    The Creation of the Duchy


    The First Hundred Years


    Years 101 to 200 AF


    And so on and so forth to the bottom of the page where the final listing was:


    Years 601 to 700 AF


    He turned the page and found that the list continued with two more sections. Wait...just...a...minute The list continued? The last two entries made no sense at all.. It was impossible, but there they were:


    Years 701 to 800 AF


    Years 801 to 900 AF


    Today was May 24th in The Year 721 AF, wasn''t it?


    "Ah geez. Give me a break. Maybe whoever wrote this speaks some other language and made a mistake in their translation." There were many foreigners in The City whose native languages were quite different from his own. Indeed, even some people from the south, while still speaking Italian, used dialects that were hard to understand. Purely to avoid wasting time calling someone to translate for him, he''d learned several of them.


    Of course. That had to be it. How silly of him. Obviously the author had a different way of saying things.


    Still thinking out loud he added, "Now all I need is something to help me understand how the language here is different."


    He was looking directly at the page, so he couldn''t make the excuse that he''d missed it earlier. Immediately after he''d spoken, a new entry appeared below the others. It said:


    GLOSSARY ..... Page 2044


    Now, even considering that the word and page number had miraculously appeared after he had wished for help, there was no way in the world that such a slim volume had over 2000 pages. It was doubtful that it even had as many as 200. He picked up the book and casually fanned it open.


    He could swear that he felt his eyes start to bug out as he saw the numbers on the pages climb. First into the 100''s then 200''s, then 300''s and so on until the end, which was page number 2063.


    Using both hands, he slowly and carefully put the book back down on the center of the desk. His stomach was vigorously reminding him that it would soon be dinner time, and he needed to eat. Maybe, no, not maybe but definitely. He''d definitely try to puzzle out the meaning of the book, but later. Not now, but later. Surely there was plenty of time to sort things out.


    Paolo found his way to the dining room entirely by habit. His mind was completely engrossed by what had just happened. As a result, he was totally unprepared for his reception. News of his engagement had percolated through all the staff and from them to the other children. The youngest two, Stavros and Consuela began to tease him from the moment he came through the door. As it was good-natured, Paolo smiled at his rambunctious sibs and, uncharacteristically, gave each of them a hug. That had the effect of instantly quieting them. As he''d become older, Paolo had hugged them less than when he was younger, and each of them savored the moment.


    The eldest daughter, Eugenia, was, at least in her own mind, closing in on 15 years old, and the engagement news had her mind a million miles away from any thoughts of teasing her brother. Like him she had been taught by their parents nearly since birth, and that included the concept that there ere other worthy things for a woman to do besides getting married and having hordes of children. Even though there were four in their family, most people still had six to eight children, and some had as many as 10 or even 12.


    Reliable methods of birth control had existed for centuries, but completely safe methods had been developed only about 20 years earlier. Since then there had been a substantial decline in the number born, but many -- of both sexes -- were still unsure as to whether or not limiting the size of families was a good idea. However even most of the doubters found that the ability to space their children farther apart was of substantial benefit, both to the wife''s health and in providing more personal attention to each child.


    No, Eugenia was far too thoughtful to tease her brother. Even if she had been so inclined, she loved him too much to intentionally distract herself from her own uncertainty as to how the family dynamics would change after the marriage by pushing her anxiety off on him. Besides that, she had her own thoughts about romance, and they were rather unconventional. Probably. She had her eye on Jason Fukui, Kaho''s 11 year old brother.


    There were depths in that child that already hinted at incredible potential. He might well mature into a man like unto whom there were only a few born each generation. If her suspicions were well founded, she''d have to wait at least another five years, and preferably seven or eight, before they could be married. By then she''d be almost 23, and that was the rub.


    In their society, a woman who was unmarried at that age was, well, let us say that she might not be treated well by certain members of the community. Fortunately she had several years yet before she had to worry about that. Besides, her assessment of Jason''s potential might be wrong. As it always does, time would tell. In the meantime, her parents would never force her into a loveless pairing. In that, for one of her social standing, she was incredibly fortunate.


    As for Paolo being engaged to Sara, Eugenia couldn''t be happier. Even though she was a bit more than three years younger than Sara, she''d spent many a happy hour with her while their mothers socialized, and also did whatever else it was that they were involved in. She wasn''t quite sure what it was, but the occasional snippet she overheard had been extremely thought-provoking.


    More than once she''d heard them talking about "forecasts" and "probabilities." Rarely, they''d used words that she didn''t understand at all and that she couldn''t find in any dictionary. She was certain that she''d heard them correctly. She knew that she had a good "ear" for foreign sounds. She already spoke five languages fluently and two others passibly, one of which was called "Hindi." She''d never been to India, and probably never would be able to go, but it sounded like an incredibly interesting place and, just in case she might be able to visit someday, she was practicing the language.


    But that was all for the future. Today was all about the present, as it should be. Her brother was going to be married to a young woman beloved by the entire family. That of itself should be considered a miracle. With that thought warming her, she joined in the quiet celebration with a full heart.


    -----------------------------


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    Sunday May 25th in The Year 721 After the Founding


    Paolo began the next day with a certain determination. Since he had no idea what the book was, or how it had appeared, he decided that the best thing was to read the first few chapters and feel things out. He opened the book with no little trepidation. Before anything else, he intended to conduct an experiment and viewed what was coming with a mixture of anxiety and anticipation.


    He flipped pages to the Table of Contents and looked steadily at the top. He spoke clearly and slowly, "I wish there were something concise at the beginning that explained the purpose behind this book."


    As it had the night before, a new entry appeared, this time at the top of the page. It said:


    Introduction....page IV.


    Most interesting. Also most irritating. Paolo turned two more pages to the introduction and began to read.


    For many centuries there has been an ongoing debate over whether a society at peace or one punctuated by episodic wars would result in the greatest progress for humanity. A secondary debate ran in parallel, concerning how one should define "progress" in the first place. Did it refer to technological advancement? Perhaps it meant the development of a stable, peaceful, societal-cultural state of affairs.


    Eventually it was decided that an experiment, if designed carefully, and properly monitored, could answer both of those questions. It would begin on a limited basis in only one location.


    Consequently, it was arranged that a city that was totally impregnable to any conceivable form of attack should be placed at the juncture of what history recorded as the two most-used invasion routes from what eventually became Germany and Austria, to the Italian peninsula.


    The hypothesis being tested was that if the north-central Mediterranean was spared from the onslaught of the northern armies, a society would develop that had time enough to grow strong enough to resist other, later invasions by sea. If it did, it was also hypothesized that the extended period of peace would result in significant improvements in the human condition at least two centuries before it had happened originally.


    A sub-hypothesis being investigated was one that proposed that the extra centuries of trade linking so many areas together would reduce the chance of wars even in the northern parts of Europe where so many conflicts developed otherwise and, possibly, even as far away as India.


    Depending on the results, re-doing the experiment, but on a much larger scale, placing similar cities on known invasion routes all over the world, would be considered.


    There were of course, as with all complex experiments, several unforeseen developments. These began with the intervention by an unknown force, or forces, only seconds before our project was intended to be begun. (Though it must be admitted that the technique used was far more effective than what we had originally planned. Our plan had included a holographic projection intended to overwhelm the combatants. The actual physical intervention made by the ''other party'' had a much greater impact - pun intended.)


    The second major, unpredicted result involved what we all now know as the "twin situation." The abilities existing among twins born in the test city have still not been adequately explained. (Frankly nobody has the slightest idea of what''s going on. If you figure it out, do let us know, will you Paolo?)


    Paolo slammed the book shut, threw it down on the desk, and then retreated until his back was against the stone wall forming the north side of his room. He took rapid deep breaths as he tried to regain his composure. First he worked on his hands, as they were fisted so tightly that several of his fingernails had almost broken the skin of his palms.


    Once he''d managed that, he wrapped his arms around himself and squatted down, his backside still against the wall, but with his head between his knees so he wouldn''t faint. He might have stayed there all day for all he knew, but he was spared that by the sound of his door opening.


    His mother flowed into the room, already speaking, "Paolo, I know that you have a number of things on your mind, but it''s passing rude of you not to come down to breakfast on time. We''re all waiting and... Oh dear."


    She looked at her son, huddled forlornly on the floor. Immediately a flash of understanding appeared on her face, which was followed by an expression of extreme anger. Her eyes darted around the room until her gaze lighted on the book.


    She stalked over, picked it up, and opened it to a blank page. A few seconds later Paolo began to rouse from his fugue-like state as the sound of someone swearing in several different languages assaulted his ears. The voice was feminine, and it was extremely loud. To be truthful, whoever it was was shouting at the top of her lungs.


    His innate curiosity finally got the better of him. He''d never heard a number of the words that she was using, and he knew that he''d have trouble remembering them if he wasn''t fully alert. He put his hands against the wall behind him and then gradually pushed himself up until he was standing.


    He was both surprised and unsurprised to see that it was his mother doing all the shouting. Somewhere along the way he had recognized her voice even though he''d never in his life heard her yell before. His surprise was because he was having trouble coping with the idea that his mother knew how to swear at all. His last impression, before his father charged into the room, was one of pride at how skilled she was.


    And charge in his father did, followed, almost, by his sibs and several of the staff. Seeing his wife holding an open book and shouting while shaking it violently, he spun around and pushed everyone behind him backwards until he was able to close and lock the door.


    She glanced over to her husband and smiled her thanks. Then she turned back to the book, and continued her tirade, though this time using language that was somewhat more temperate. "You stupid, asinine, unmitigated FOOLS!. What were you thinking, dumping all this on our son without a single word to us first so we could prepare him for it? Never mind, don''t bother to answer. You didn''t think AT ALL.


    "When are you going to get it into your thick, so-called scientific heads that we are PEOPLE not some sort of test subjects for you to play with? You want this project to succeed? Well guess what? So do we. The difference is that, if it fails, we''re going to be the ones doing the bleeding and dying. Did you, even once, consider that? Of course you didn''t. If you had, you''d never had pulled a stupid stunt like this."


    As she continued to berate whoever or whatever she was yelling at, Robert made his way over to Paolo and enfolded him in a comforting hug. Paolo hugged him back, and, if his father''s jacket became a bit damp in the ensuing minutes, neither of them ever mentioned it happening.


    Eventually Miranda ran down and delivered an ultimatum, "Now you get this straight and you''d better not EVER forget. In the future, when you think it''s time for the next generation to become involved, you consult with their parents first. And you''d better not have slipped a copy to Sara yet!


    "Oh, you did? But she hasn''t found it yet? Good, GET IT BACK, RIGHT NOW! I''ll tell you, or rather her parents will tell you when they feel that she''s ready for it. Oh, really? Thank you SOOOO much for reminding me. Of course I know how important the timing is. One of us will arrange things this week.


    "For now you will wait until one of the adults contacts you, capiche? All right. Yes you can make a suggestion. Indeed. All right. At least this one time I agree with you. I''ll have Paolo read the chapter detailing The Founding, but you are NOT to add anything unless he specifically asks a question. Are we in agreement? Right. Good. We''ll be in touch."


    She slammed the book closed and hurled it across the room as hard as she could. Paolo had been taught how to properly handle a book from the time he was a toddler. It was his shock at seeing a book so abused that finally brought him entirely back to his senses.


    Seeing the stricken look on his face his father chuckled then said, "It''s all right son. You can''t harm one of those books even if you throw it in a fire."


    He stroked his chin several times and added, "I do believe that I''ve read of that happening in the past. This isn''t the first time that one of them has behaved so idiotically."


    He looked down at his son and smiled, "Don''t worry, they can''t hear you if the book isn''t fully open. One of the things that they don''t know is that, for many generations now, members of our families have been keeping their own records of what''s been happening, including how they have been bending the path these ''scientists'' planned into what we ''test subjects'' have determined to be most beneficial for our society. Never mind what ''they'' think should be happening."


    Seeing Paolo''s quizzical expression, he correctly interpreted the unasked question. He turned to his wife and laughed out loud, "Yes dear, he''s definitely our son."


    He turned back to Paolo and said, "You''re correct. We don''t want anyone unauthorized reading those journals. If some random person got their hands on them, and could read them, there''d be more than a panic. In order to prevent that, they''ve been written in code. Which means...."


    Paolo bowed his head and cupped his hands over his eyes. Then he threw his arms in the air, bent backwards, and moaned dramatically toward the heavens, "Oh ye Gods, NO! I thought I was through with studying!"


    His parents looked at him incredulously for an instant, then all three began to laugh. This was followed by a brief, group hug after which his mother looked at Paolo and asked, "Are you feeling together enough to come down for breakfast?"


    Paolo nodded. He doubted that he''d be thinking straight for some time yet, but; "Yes Mother I am. I have a few questions for you, or maybe a few hundred, but they can wait."


    Then he turned to his father, "You said, or at least implied, that this was all hush-hush, but there are all those people outside, and I know that at least three of them will have had their ears to the door the whole time."


    His mother beamed at him. "Very good little one, but don''t be concerned. They heard nothing." Miranda waved the back of her hand at the door, as if she were flipping back a gauze curtain, tiptoed to the door, and jerked it open. Eugenia, Stavros, and Sven, tumbled into the room. Mimi and Consuela appeared to be making efforts to maintain their balance.


    Robert frowned down at Sven, but all he said was, "We''ll begin breakfast in five minutes."


    Sven stood quickly, brushed himself off, then stood at attention. "Yes sir. Right away sir." Then he hustled out of the room and down the stairs.


    Miranda did nothing but look directly at the others and raise an eyebrow. In moments the landing was empty. All that could be heard was the sound of numerous feet hurrying down the stairs.


    She walked over to Paolo and brushed some dust off his shoulder. "Yes, now you look presentable."


    She took her husband''s arm and asked, "Shall we go down to breakfast?"


    Robert replied, "Yes, of course my dear. Why don''t we?"


    He looked over his shoulder at Paolo. "Come along son, or the food will get cold."


    With that, the three of them left the room. Paolo carefully closed the door, leaving the book sprawled against the wall, somehow looking both forlorn and dejected.

 Ch 9

    Breakfast at the Donetti''s was the usual subdued chaos. This was mostly because the youngest children were wide-awake, full of energy, and fidgeting. School was still out for another week, and they wanted to hurry up and go outside to play.


    The two oldest children and their parents were discussing their plans for the day. They''d long ago learned that it was futile to try to get the twins to be quiet in the morning, so they were seated some two meters away from them. Stavros and Conseula tried to get their elders'' attention but only briefly. It had been over a year since they''d worn out all the gambits they could come up and hadn''t yet devised anything new that was likely to work.


    Giving up wasn''t part of their nature, so they did what they always did when they wanted privacy. They spoke to each other in "twin," the private mental language spoken by each set of twins born in The City. They threw various plans for getting attention back and forth, but nothing came up that was truly satisfying. Finally, out of sheer desperation, Consuela suggested putting a water trap above a door that would drench the next person to come through it.


    Immediately there was a thump from the adults'' end of the table. When the two of them looked up, they saw their mother looking at them with an expression of disgust accompanied by a slow shaking of her head. They both bobbed their heads in apology and changed the topic of their discussion. Everybody knew that nobody, not even another set of twins, could understand, or even hear "twin" so how did their mother know what they were talking about? Maybe it was just a coincidence.


    They lifted their heads and turned toward their mother, who was still looking at them. All she did was smile slightly at them and wink. Then she turned her attention back to the others.


    Paolo was more than a little confused by what had just happened. From the body language and expressions of the participants, it was something interesting, but he had not an iota of an idea of what it was. He raised an inquiring eyebrow at his mother who responded with a tiny nod. Good. They''d talk about whatever it was later. Besides that he was feeling a mounting need to talk about what had happened in his room earlier. Dealing with both at once would be the most efficient way to handle things. Nodding to himself, he turned his attention back to Eugenia''s explanation as to why her traveling to Milan to visit her paternal aunt during her vacation at the end of summer, without any adults accompanying her on the trip, was a good idea.


    After breakfast the twins went off with Sven, Eugenia trailed after her father, still lobbying for her trip, and Paolo followed his mother into her office. Excitement was warring with trepidation, but, as the shock of the early morning faded, and his disposition mellowed from the fine meal, excitement was winning the battle.


    Once his mother had settled herself in a comfortable armchair, rather than behind her desk as Paolo had expected, he gingerly sat down in the chair facing hers. He''d never been invited (or ordered if you will) to do so previously and he wasn''t entirely sure that it would be allowed. She smiled at him in order to reassure him, then began to speak, "Well, it''s true that you are of an age for it, but as you likely noticed, a certain someone, or someones, decided to spring things on you before your father and I could ease you into it.


    "We''d intended to let you get things between you and Sara settled first, but it seems that we no longer have that luxury."


    She lifted her arms and rotated her palms upward as she spread them apart. "But that''s life for you, always tossing something at you right when you think you''ve finally recovered your balance from some other trial."


    Then she growled, "No thanks to them."


    "That all being said, I think that I''ll let you start things off. Ask your questions, and then we''ll see where things lead."


    Paolo tried to rein in his scattered thoughts, so as to ask his questions in an orderly manner. His parents despised people who said things randomly without thinking first. The next thing he knew, he found himself throwing himself to his feet and bowing deeply to his mother. "Oh my God! I totally forgot to thank you for the desk. Please, don''t think that I don''t appreciate it. I do! More than you might be able to imagine. It''s wonderful. I''m SO sorry that I didn''t say anything earlier!"


    From his bent-over position, Paolo couldn''t see his mother''s face. He hoped that she wasn''t too angry about his lapse. His anxiety was relieved by his mother''s full-throated laughter. She rarely laughed that way. She always said that it wasn''t "ladylike," so she reserved it for rare occasions when some private family going-on amused her.


    Finally her laughter trailed off, except for sporadic, chuckling snorts. "Really Paulito. Sometimes you''re much too serious. Do you believe that I, or your father, would be so petty as to not realize that you have other priorities at the moment? People should always come before things, and Sara is one incredible person. Of course you didn''t have time to thank us, you silly goose!"


    She stood and smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt that her contortions while laughing had caused. Seating herself, she picked up the thread of the conversation, "Now as for your questions about the twins. You will not of course be repeating this," she gave him a sharp look, "but you will need to know such things when you have children of your own, which, by the way, you should wait at least two more years for so as to allow Sara time to fully mature."


    Paolo would have recoiled in terror had the back of the chair not restrained his motion. Him a father? He had barely begun to reconcile himself to the idea of getting married. Thinking of children wasn''t something he was emotionally ready for. That''s what he wanted to say, but his mother was having none of it.


    "You''re going to need a lot of help with your first child. Fortunately, both Blair and I are well equipped to help you, but that''s for later. For now we''ll deal with what happened with the twins this morning. Clearly they were up to something or other. They were leaning toward each other and trying to be subtle about it, which made them extremely obvious. They''re a decade from being anywhere near as good as you are, and you''re barely at the level of a skilled amateur."


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    Paolo kept his face as close to non-committal as he possibly could. Even though his mother had spotted him eavesdropping, he''d thought that he was better than your run-of-the-mill amateur.


    She looked at him closely. "Not bad. You still twitch a bit around the corners of the eyes when you do that, but you''ll improve soon."


    She tapped the fan she was suddenly holding with her right hand into the palm of her left. "You''d better.


    "Now, the twins. When they noticed me noticing them, I gave them what we call ''the parent spots everything'' look. That got their attention and got them thinking that somehow, even though they know that nobody else can understand ''twin'' that I somehow had anyway. They discussed that for a bit then sneaked a look at me again. This time I gave them the raised eyebrow and slight smile that we call the ''yes of course I know what you were up to, what else did you expect'' look. Naturally I had and have no idea what they were plotting. However, misdirection, and keeping your mouth shut, will frequently lead people to believe that you know a lot more than you really do."


    She smiled slightly at Paolo. "You do that part rather well already. You still need to work on it, but you''re not bad at all for someone your age."


    Miranda leaned forward and spoke intently, "As for the people who created the book.... If you choose to believe what we''ve been told, they''re from a time approximately 5,200 years in our future. We, meaning our city and its inhabitants, are an experiment of theirs. They seem to think that having a city here will reduce the chance of, or at least the number of, wars that happened in their history.


    "The reasons for that will become apparent when you read about The Founding, so I won''t waste time by repeating it now. According to them, at least two wars in their history already haven''t happened in ours. If you want to know more about them, ask. Depending on their mood, they might even answer. Should they choose to do so, I want a full report as to what they say.


    "Moving on, no, they don''t use magic. What they do is engineering, but at a much higher level than we know of in our time. Though it will be hard, you need to understand that the ''book'' is not truly a book but rather an extremely complicated machine."


    Paolo jumped up in excitement. "OH! So that''s it. It all makes sense now. The extra pages weren''t created by magic at all. This book machine was manufacturing them somehow. I see. I see. No wonder it felt so different from what a mage does."


    Miranda nodded her approval. "Yes, much like that. Which means you have another set of lessons coming. No, don''t scowl at me like that. It won''t work, and you already know it. In fact, one of the first of your bad habits you need to break is your tendency to continue using a stratagem long after its usefulness had disappeared. That lazy streak of yours has to go, or it''s going to kill you one of these days. If it does, Sara is likely to find a necromancer to raise your spirit and nag you about it for decades.


    "Along with your studies in spycraft, you''re going to have to learn to differentiate true magic from advanced engineering. You don''t have to understand either one completely, but you WILL have to understand enough of how each functions to tell them apart. If you can''t do that, any action you take to counter one of them could get you dead if you''ve mis-identified what you''re up against."


    Paolo expected that he looked like a fish out of water because his mother began snickering. She had the grace to give him a few seconds to get himself at least marginally under control before she continued, "Of course you''ll be studying spycraft. My parents'' apparent occupations, even though they are still the best jewelers in The City, are an excellent misdirection away from their true calling. Spying has been my family''s primary function for well over 200 years, and you know how important it is for parents to know that one of their children will continue the family business. Right?"


    He nodded dumbly and said...nothing. He had no idea what to say.


    Miranda nodded. "Exactly right. When you don''t know what to say, say nothing. Besides preventing you from looking stupid if you say the wrong thing, it encourages whoever you''re listening to to keep babbling. They might accidentally say more than they intended and give you something useful."


    After a pause she went on, seemingly to herself as much as to him, "And you also have a reasonably strong potential for magecraft. It should serve you well when you have become a priest."


    Before he could say anything, she glared at him, at her maximum intensity. "Oh please! Acting so surprised is unseemly and quite a discourtesy to me. It implies that you don''t think much of my powers of observation. How could I not know of your inclination in that direction? The only times in the past five years that you haven''t worn your ''slightly dumb'' persona is when you''ve been listening to one of the priests who puts what they teach into practice. Some of your questions showed a fair amount of insight too.


    "I am pleased that you''ve managed to avoid that distasteful parochialism of some sects that claim that they know the only way to reach God and that anybody who doesn''t agree with them is damned. Fortunately every Duke since The Founding has thrown that type out of town almost immediately. God would never have created so many religions were they not of use to whatever culture was shaped by them.


    "Given your personality, you might consider the seminary at the Church of the Placid Heart. Bishop Lundgren is broad-minded, a powerful mage, and also one of the best spies in town...after myself of course."


    Miranda stood, and of course Paolo did likewise. He noticed absently that the fan she''d used earlier was no longer in evidence. "Well my son, that''s about enough for now. I expect that it will take two or three days for what I''ve told you to percolate into your brain. By then I expect you to have finished the section of the book dealing with The Founding and to be ready to answer my questions about what you''ve read. Of course I''ll answer yours as well, as long as they''re well thought out."


    Her smile morphed into one that was still sweet but also a bit scary. "You''ll find that I''m much less lenient than your teachers at school when it comes to understanding what I''ll be teaching you. The only passing score is 100%. If you don''t reach that, you''ll do it over and over again until you have it down pat.


    "Once word gets around, and I give it no more than two days since it''s still Spring Break for another week and people have nothing better to do, nobody is going to expect you or Sara to be doing much of anything other than getting ready for the wedding now that your formal schooling has ended. That gives us something over a month to get the two of you reasonably well started on your training. After that...well we''ll have to wait and see. Planning too far ahead is a total waste of time and energy."


    She made a shooing motion. "Now be off with you. You have a lot of work to do, so you might as well get started."


    He bowed slightly then scooted out the door and up the stairs to his room. He was excited, scared, happy, worried, and enthralled all at the same time. He''d been mostly drifting the past few years, but now he found himself looking forward to what might happen for the first time since he was 12.


    There was obviously going to be a great deal of work to do, and probably intense studying too, but, surprisingly, he realized, for perhaps the first time in his life, that he didn''t mind at all.

 Ch 10

    Paolo threw himself down on his bed.  His mind was, to use a ridiculously overused term, "whirling."  He''d always thought that it was a silly way to describe things but now found that it fit perfectly.  He sighed.  One more thing about his world that he''d been absolutely sure of had been proven wrong.  He felt a bit of trepidation as he wondered how many other things that he thought were fixed and "true" would also be proven wrong before all this was over.


    It was something that he really didn''t want to think about, but he realized that he needed to force himself out of that train of thought.  Fortunately there had been more than a few times in the past where he''d been wrong and had to deal with "what ifs" and "if onlys," so he knew that thinking of something pleasant would distract him.


    Before he realized it, he''d fallen asleep.  He''d been so stressed for the past 24 hours, and was sleeping so deeply, that he never noticed his mother peeping in at lunchtime and then carefully closing the door.  When he awoke, around 5 p.m. he was still thinking about how to distract himself with pleasant thoughts.


    However the first pleasant thing he thought of didn''t relax him at all.  It increased his tension. That was because, much to his chagrin, he immediately thought of Sara.  It really wasn''t fair, and he wanted to complain about it, but there was no one to complain to but himself.  In the past, on any number of occasions, they''d been separated for weeks at a time when one or the other of their families were traveling on business or vacation, and not once had he missed her.


    Now, even though he''d seen her two nights before, he felt an inner ache that was almost excruciating when he thought of being apart from her.  Argh!  This wasn''t going to work at all.  He rolled out of bed and began to pace back and forth.  After once again getting exactly nowhere, he exclaimed, "Somebody do something!"


    "Well finally!  It took you long enough to ask!  You really ought to know that I can''t help if you don''t ask.  Then again, I never spoke to you before so how could you know?  No matter, now you do, so here we go....


    Before Paolo could even begin to respond, there was a flash of bluish light.  When his vision cleared, he beheld two people in front of him.  One was Sara.  She had a bewildered and frightened look on her face, and, as soon as she saw him, ran over and buried her face in his chest.


    Absently he noticed that Sara was taking deep breaths, as if she were trying not to faint, and that she had her arms wrapped around him.  He suspected that it was to hold herself up rather than being due to affection.


    Most of his attention was focused on the other "person" in the room.  He used the term advisedly, or "provisionally" if you will.  She was quite petite, likely somewhere under a meter and a half tall.  Of itself, that wasn''t such a difficult thing to deal with.  He''d seen a number of women who were almost of a like size before, but what he hadn''t seen was a small human woman who glowed.  He looked more closely just to be sure.  Yes, there was a soft blue light surrounding her.  Her clothes, while of a decidedly odd cut, were obviously of the finest materials, and she wore jewelry that looked to be beyond expensive.


    "Ah, excuse me milady, would you be so kind as to explain what happened?  Please?"


    Paolo noticed that his own knees were a bit wobbly at that point, so he eased himself and Sara down on the bench behind him.  As he had with his mother''s fan, he studiously avoided thinking about that fact that he didn''t have a bench in his room.


    Sara seemed to have mostly recovered by then, as she unwrapped herself from Paolo and let go of him, except to lace the fingers of her right hand in his left.  She turned to the woman and nodded her agreement to what Paolo had said.


    The lady waved her hand in acquiescence.   "Of course I will.  You need but ask.  Then again, I already said that, didn''t I?"


    Sara and Paolo nodded.  Anyone watching would have found it sweet, as their heads moved in perfect synchrony.


    "Very well.  First of all, you asked for me to do something, so when you did I responded.  Secondly, to be completely honest, even if you hadn''t, I''d have finagled some way of getting one of you to ask for help within the next few days anyway.  There are things that you need to know that even your parents are unaware of."  She smiled then did nothing but look at them.  Shortly she began tapping her foot, and her expression hardened somewhat.


    Sara nudged Paolo in the ribs which broke him out of his reverie.  Somehow looking at this personage worked a lot like the wine had the other day, and it interfered with his thoughts.  His mind flashed through a number of possibilities ending up with him blurting out, "Are you God?"


    He was answered by peal after peal of high-pitched, tinkling laughter.  Eventually the woman fell to the floor, wrapped her arms around herself, and rolled back and forth, laughing all the while.  As this was going on, Paolo felt Sara stiffening beside him, and her posture steadily became more upright and rigid.


    When the woman finally stopped laughing and climbed back to her feet, Sara spoke indignantly, "There was nothing at all funny about Paolo''s question.  You purloined me from my room, without asking first I might add, and moved me four hundred meters in the blink of an eye.  No mage that I''ve heard of or read about can do that.  That being the case, his question deserved an honest answer, not laughter.  Are you God?"


    The lady took two deep breaths before answering, "Oh, excuse me.  I suppose that you''re right Sara.  It wasn''t the sort of thing you see every day, was it?"


    She smiled winsomely. "No child, I''m not God.  While it''s technically true that I''m not a human, I''m a fallible being like yourselves."  A fleeting, bitter expression crossed her face, then she shook herself and added, "The difference is only that I can do some things that humans can''t, at least not yet."


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    She laced her fingers behind her back, tilted her head, and looked at the ceiling,  "Maybe I''d better start at the beginning. Perhaps not my beginning, that story would be overly long, so let''s make it your beginning.  Or more specifically the beginning of your city."


    She made a fist of her left hand and tapped it into the open palm of her right.  "Yes.  That should do, so I''ll get right to it.  Is that agreeable?"  Seeing them nodding puppy-like again, she almost began laughing once more, but she reminded herself that she should be above such things, and...barely...didn''t.


    "Now Sara, you remember what I told you about these ''Engineers'' and their project involving your city while we were on the way here?"


    Sara looked bewildered.  "What do you mean?  Moving from my room to Paolo''s took less than a second, I''m sure of that.  How could you...?"


    Suddenly her mind was filled with the memory of this personage spending nearly an hour with her explaining the Engineers and their plans.  But how?  Then it came to her.  She looked at the clock over Paolo''s mantle, then jumped to her feet and pointed an accusatory finger at the lady.


    "You, Lady Blue, you''re like them, aren''t you?   You manipulated time somehow.  It''s only been about three minutes since you kidnapped me, but I know we spent nearly an hour together while you were explaining all this.  Who are you, and where exactly were we?"


    The lady''s expression this time was both irritated and angry.  "For someone who scored higher on her exams than anyone else in the entire country, you can be awfully dense.  Choose your words more carefully in the future lest you destroy yourself with their consequences!


    "First of all, kidnapping requires taking someone against their will and, usually, also holding them in unwanted confinement.  I don''t recall that at any time during our conversation you said that you were there against your will.  I also don''t see me preventing you from leaving this room.


    "You can you know.  You can stand up and leave, but you''ll never know or even remember that there was something that you might have learned if you stayed.  Do you want to leave, right now?  If so, be my guest."  She bowed slightly and gestured graciously with both hands toward the door.


    For almost a minute Sara stood there with no particular look on her face at all.  Then she let herself fall bonelessly back on the bench.  She was still pointing at the lady though.  "You are a VERY devious person.  I''d say that I don''t like tricky people, but that would be foolish.  I''m a tricky person myself.  For that matter, almost everyone I admire or love is."


    She shook her finger.  "But that doesn''t mean that I''m not still somewhat wroth with you Lady Blue."


    The lady began snickering again, and Paolo noticed that she seemed to be struggling with herself to keep from laughing.  He also noticed that, unlike moments before, Sara had a big grin plastered on her face.


    All he could think of doing was throwing his arms in the air and shouting "WOMEN!  I don''t understand them at all."  Fortunately he managed to control himself better than the lady was doing.  He knew that if he said something without thinking it through, again, they would put aside their argument and start all over, but this time with him as their target.


    "Good boy.  There''s hope for you yet.  Consider it part of the lessons your mother mentioned earlier.  You''ve got to get control of your tendency to blurt out the first thing you think of when you''re startled.  She was right about it getting you dead if you make a mistake.  Now that I think of it, she was also right about Sara calling up your spirit and nagging you."


    Paolo stared dumbfounded at the lady.  She winked at him then turned her attention back to Sara.  "Now young lady, I have an important question for you.  Why in the world do you call me ''Lady Blue''?"


    Sara straightened up like a schoolgirl being called upon by a strict teacher. "Well, first of all, you''re obviously a Lady.  I don''t think that we need to go into the reasons why I came to that conclusion, correct?"


    Seeing the lady nod, Sara went on with, "Secondly you''re glowing blue.  So, since you''ve not been polite enough to offer your name, you''re now ''Lady Blue''."


    It was about time to give this lady some of her own back, so she added under her breath, "Even though you acted more like a four year old than a Lady when you were laughing and rolling around on the floor like that."  Sara sat there with her arms crossed, her right eyebrow raised, and a self-satisfied grin on her face.


    The lady let her chin drop and astonishment exuded from her.  Nobody had talked to her like that in, well, at least 1,500 years.  She threw her arms in the air and spun around the room, not always remembering to keep her feet on the floor.  How wonderfully refreshing.  She was going to enjoy working with this pair quite a bit.  She stopped about a meter in the air and directed a speculative look at Paolo.


    Seeing the direction of Lady Blue''s gaze, Sara did likewise.  Somehow they momentarily shared the same thought.  He needed some polishing, but he was the most promising male of his age in The City, so it was going to be worth the effort.  Then the two ladies looked at each other and began to giggle.


    As before, Paolo had no idea what they were up to, but he was wise enough to realize that if he asked, he would probably get an answer that he might not want to hear.  Now that the mood had settled into one more amicable than at the beginning, as she had intended, the lady began her instruction.


    "I believe that Miranda''s idea of starting with reading about The Founding of The City was an excellent one, as far as it went, but it''s probably not going to work all that well with the two of you together.  First of all, if you have to sit close enough that both of you can read the book at the same time, you''re going to be distracting each other far too much, and I want you to pay attention to the information and not each other.  You can do something about that later, after you finish."


    Seeing their blushes she concealed a smile and forged ahead, "Also, you read at different speeds, which means that one of you would always be waiting for the other to catch up.  So....  Hmmm.   I know, this is what we''ll do.  Rather than read the story, I''ll let you experience it.  Since I was there, I can let you see what I saw, or at least enough to give you a fairly good understanding of what was involved."


    Sara and Paolo turned and stared at each other.  See what Lady Blue saw?  What did that mean, and how was it possible?  As they continued their wordless conversation, the lady watched closely.  Very good.  They were communicating with what they thought were only their facial gestures and almost as well as twins could.  This boded well for the future.


    She cleared her throat to regain their attention. "Explanations would be meaningless, like trying to describe ''blue'' to someone who was born blind.  If you experience it, then explanations won''t be necessary, right?"


    They nodded dubiously, and the lady smiled inwardly.  She''d stunned them enough that their natural inquisitiveness was still mostly asleep.  She didn''t want to have to explain what was going to happen to them and how...yet.   While she had watched most of what had happened at the time of The Founding, there was no way that she could have known the thoughts of all those involved.  There were far too many people present.  Besides, she didn''t like prying into what people were thinking.  It was different if it were necessary, but at the time it hadn''t been.


    What she required was the memories of those who had been there when it happened in order to show Paolo and Sara what the principals had been thinking.  Fortunately those were available.


    "Very well. Let''s begin."

 Ch 11 - The Day of The Founding

    Emil awoke to the sound of rain hitting the canvas of what his lord, Baron Childers, called a tent.  It was old and rotting, with patches on patches, but somehow it was still intact -- at least mostly.  The tent had originally held four men, but the interminable skirmishes with Baron Jeffries'' troops had left only the two of them.  Their gear appeared to be scattered haphazardly, but, as in almost all things, looks were deceiving.  Their things sat on the semi-dry spots furthest from the leaks.


    He could hear a few people muttering soft curses as they moved around the camp, so it must be morning, or at least close to it.  Truth be told, he felt like cursing along with the others.  Well, that and beating Baron Childers to a pulp, but that wasn''t going to happen no matter how satisfying it was to think about it.  He had no idea as to what time it was, but it was still nearly pitch dark inside.  There were no lanterns for the conscripts.  Only the nobles and the few professional guardsmen had those.  There was nothing for it but to do as he always did: Fumble around in the dark and hope that he remembered well enough where the puddles usually were.


    Soon thereafter he could hear Anselmo moving about as well.  They didn''t say anything to each other.  There was nothing new that could be said.  They''d already spent a month cursing Baron Childers for his folly of fighting his life-long rival Baron Jeffries in March instead of waiting till after the crops had been planted.  As it was, even if they eventually "won" after another two or three months, there was a good chance that they''d all starve the following winter.  The women and children of their village would do what they could, but almost none of them knew how to use a plough.  Of those, hardly one or two had the physical strength needed to handle one and the team of mules needed to pull it.


    Still, there was nothing Emil could do about it.  He might be a blacksmith, but even such as he, who ranked high in the hierarchy of the village, was as nothing to the noblemen and professional soldiers.  Emil was convinced that the only reason they''d all been conscripted was so that they could do all the dying while each of the barons jockeyed for a position that would give him some sort of advantage that would let him wring concessions from his rival.  Heaven forbid that one of them might be injured!


    With those gloomy thoughts running through his mind, Emil threw back the tent flap and beheld...nothing.  The cursing was louder, but he couldn''t see who it was coming from.  There was no sign of the lantern that was always on a pole in the middle of the camp.  For that matter, the entire camp was invisible.  For a moment he thought he''d been struck blind, but, when he turned to the side, he could dimly see the tent flap he was holding.


    Once his eyes had somewhat adjusted to the near total lack of light, he woke enough to realize that he felt wet, not because of leaks, but because of heavy fog obscuring his sight.  He slogged his way toward where the cook-fires should be.  At least the baron made sure that they had hot meals.  Not that he cared about their well-being per se, but, if they died from lack of decent food, he''d have fewer warm bodies to throw into the fight.


    About an hour later, everyone had eaten, sorted out their kits, and they were marching, in ragged order, toward the battlefield for the day.  Emil would have had no idea of what direction they were going if it weren''t that the fog above their heads was thinning out, and a few of the brightest stars could be seen now and then.  It was probable that the baron was navigating by their light, as he stopped the column frequently, presumably to make sure of their direction.


    After an indeterminate time, the ground beneath their feet began to slope gently upwards and shortly thereafter became somewhat less soggy.  Emil could see clearly for about eight or nine yards now, though there was still nothing to see but fog and the backs of the people in front of him.  He glanced upward and noted that the sky had begun to lighten somewhat, likely as true dawn was drawing near.


    When about another 20 minutes had passed, the slope of the ground hadn''t worsened, but the light and the distance he could see had both increased somewhat.  Although...odd....  Emil looked around with some degree of alarm.  He was sure that they''d been marching in something fairly close to a straight line.  He looked up at the stars and, sure enough, they were as they should be with him facing to the south.  So, if that were true, what was the sun doing coming up from behind him, in the north?


    He spun around and, as he did so, noticed that others were doing likewise, with some of them shouting and pointing upward.  By then nobody needed to point, because all of them could see the brilliant light streaking across the sky.  It wasn''t as if he''d never seen falling stars.  Who hadn''t?  Almost any night you could see one or two if you looked long enough, and some nights there would be dozens or even a hundred or more.  The few priests and monks that passed through the village all had an explanation that invoked some sort of divine intervention.  None of their stories agreed with each other though, and it was crystal clear that they were guessing and had no more idea of what was going on than the people of the village did.


    Emil shook his head.  What was it about having a position higher than someone else that made people act as if they always had to be right?  What was wrong with admitting that you didn''t know everything about everything?


    Be that as it may, now wasn''t the best time for philosophical musings, seeing as the light was getting a lot brighter.  That wasn''t a problem in and of itself, but it seemed to be getting awfully close too.  He''d never see a falling star that lasted more than a few seconds before, and this one had been there for a lot longer than that.


    There was only one thing he was entirely sure of.  He didn''t know what a falling star really was, but he definitely didn''t want whatever it was to fall on him.  For some reason something that fell a ways before it hit you hurt a lot more than if it''d fallen only a short distance, and this looked to have been falling for a long, long way.


    He locked his eyes on it, figuring that maybe he could dodge to one side or the other before it  hit.  Luck was with him though, as it soon became clear that it was going to miss him, and likely his entire group.  It also looked like whoever was on the other side of the hill, and he had no doubt that Baron Jeffries'' troops were there somewhere, was probably going to have a very bad day, or so he hoped.  It wasn''t that he was a vicious man, or even a mean one.  It was just that, well, if someone had to die today, he''d rather it wasn''t him.


    The oddest thing about the falling star was that it wasn''t making any noise.  You''d think that with it getting so close you''d hear something, especially as it was moving so fast.  The faster a horse ran, the more noise it made, so why was there no sound at all with this moving at such an incredible speed?


    His thoughts stopped as whatever it was zoomed over their heads, seemingly directly at the hilltop whose lip could now be seen no more than 40 yards ahead of them.  It continued shooting toward the far side of the hill when it suddenly stopped, directly over the top of the hill.  The light from it became so bright that Emil threw himself on the ground with his arm across his eyes.  Around him he could hear others doing the same.  He also heard cursing from the baron and his toadys as they tried to control their horses.


    Then something exploded.  There was an incredible noise that went on and on and on until Emil was sure that the world was ending.  The ground shook continuously beneath him, even to the point that he bounced up into the air a short distance.


    What followed was absolute silence.  Emil sat up and checked himself over.  No obvious wounds.  Good.  Then he looked around and saw others likewise sitting up and checking themselves and whoever was close by.  Some of them seemed to be shouting, but he heard nothing.  Ah, right, now it made sense.  It wasn''t that there wasn''t any sound, it was that he couldn''t hear anything.  Sometimes when he spent too long hammering in the forge, he''d have trouble hearing things for a while afterwards.  This noise had been much louder, so, maybe, his hearing would come back after a while.  All he had to do was wait...probably.


    In the meantime, he''d see what he could do about getting things organized.  He''d noticed that all of those who had been riding horses had been thrown off, and none of them were moving, which wasn''t good, at least for them.  For the rest of their group though...it looked like there wasn''t going to be a battle today, and maybe not later either.  Too soon to tell about that for sure though.


    As the only surviving village "elder," he automatically assumed that he was in charge, and, by the reactions of those around him, so did the rest of those who were left.  It didn''t matter that he was only 22 years old.  What mattered was that he was the smith, which made him in some ways the most important man in town.  Even if someone was disinclined to follow his directions, nobody would object.  By the time he was 17 he''d proven that the rumor that smiths were all extraordinarily strong was no rumor at all.  From then on nobody ever thought about solving a problem by fighting him.  Besides,  Anselmo had an uncanny knack of calming down arguments and sorting things out so everyone was at least somewhat satisfied.  When the two of them were agreed, things almost never got past the arguing stage.


    After a few minutes more, Emil noted that his hearing was returning.  Shortly after that, he heard soft moaning from the direction of the bodies in armor.  As he walked toward the sound, someone next to them slowly pushed himself into a sitting position and then stayed there, half upright, leaning on his arms and carefully shaking his head.  He was wearing leather armor with chain covering his chest and shoulders.  It wasn''t all that useful, but it was better than leather alone.  What was of import was that even that little bit of chain was extremely expensive and was worn by only two people in their small force.  One was the sergeant of the guard, and the other was William, Baron Childers'' son.


    As he approached, Emil continued gesturing and shouting at various people, giving instructions when he could and pointing for those whose hearing still hadn''t recovered.  Emil felt some trepidation as he drew closer to William, as it wasn''t entirely impossible that he''d be executed on the spot for "rising above himself" and presuming to give commands to the others.


    Fortunately that worry was quickly dispelled as William lifted his right arm and waved to Emil with a "go ahead" gesture, after which he resumed contemplating the ground and occasionally gently shaking his head.


    It took little time to ascertain that all the nobles other than William had died, presumably from breaking their necks when they fell off their horses.  Though, from the amount of blood leaking out from under the helm of one of them, Emil was fairly certain that someone had managed to cut the captain''s throat.  Regardless of what had happened, he didn''t plan on exploring that question, now or ever.  The captain was one of the meanest men who had ever walked the Earth, so it wasn''t entirely unlikely that someone had taken the chance to murder him or at least make sure that he was really dead.  Then again it was always possible that it had been a mercy killing after whoever it was who''d killed him had discovered that he''d broken his back or some such.  Either way Emil didn''t care enough to waste any effort trying to find out.


    After what seemed like forever but was probably less than 10 minutes, Emil found himself back at William''s side.  His hearing had recovered and he was in close conversation with one of the surviving soldiers, a sergeant named Schultz.  William gestured for Emil to approach.


    "Right then.  We''re pretty much done as a fighting force, but that''s hardly relevant as I have no intention of continuing this insane ''war'' my father got us involved in.  What I DO intend to do is head on up to the top of the hill to see if there is someone from Baron Jeffries'' side there, and if whoever it is will agree to a cessation of hostilities, or at least a temporary truce.  I can''t imagine that they''re in much better condition than we are.  If we''re in luck, there won''t be anyone there who wants to keep fighting."


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.    He stood and gestured for Emil to come along with him.


    "Uh, sir, wouldn''t you rather have the sergeant with you?  I''m a smith and not much of a fighter."


    William nodded.  "Yes, I know, and that is exactly the reason I want you with me.  You''ll be less threatening, and I hope that a show of good intentions will be appreciated by the other side.  If not, it''ll be up to the sergeant here to do whatever needs to be done to minimize casualties during the retreat."


    The sergeant gave a weary salute.  "Yessir.  Ordinarily I guess a career soldier like me should be encouraging you to carry on the fight or some such, but, to be honest, all of us would rather be at home and starting families, if you take my meaning Sir."


    The men standing around who were able to hear either nodded or murmured their agreement with the sergeant''s words.


    "That''s that then. Let''s go Emil."


    Turning to the sergeant, William said, "Give us a couple of hours or so.  We may have to do some negotiating even if they don''t want to fight.  If you hear any yelling, get away as fast as you can.  The rest of you, well, wish us luck if you will."


    Sergeant Schultz nodded, "Luck sir."  Then he began to issue orders in a soft voice.  A number of the men began to head back down the hill a ways with the wounded, while the able-bodied dispiritedly readied their weapons.  To a man they had come to hate fighting, but push come to shove, if there were a fight, they''d prefer to survive it, so fight they would.


    William was obviously in no hurry to top the hill.  He ambled along, watching his feet more than anything else, as the long grass was still wet.  Emil did slip, and fell on his backside.  As he was reaching up for William''s offered hand, a gasp of surprise escaped him.


    "William, the sky!  Look at the sky!"


    William looked up and then, carefully, lowered himself to a sitting position, his neck craned back as he gazed in wonder at the sky above him.  Somehow, as they''d trudged upward, the fog had cleared completely.  The sky was so clear that it almost looked as if one could reach out and touch the stars.   As he looked about, William wondered at the juxtaposition of the horror of war and the beauty of the firmament.


    But they had a task to perform, and stargazing wouldn''t get it done.  He stood then pulled Emil up by his outstretched hand.  "Let''s go my friend.  Hopefully our counterparts have also noticed and been awed by this wondrous clearing of the celestial sphere."


    Emil stared at him as if he were speaking gibberish.


    "Oh, sorry Emil.  Of late my father has had a rather awful poet performing in the keep and I''m afraid it rubbed off on me.  Let''s go shall we?"


    "Right William.  Let us essay to proceed in a timely manner lest our arrival at the top of yon hill be unduly delayed."


    Emil smiled back as William gaped at him. "I think that the same poet passed the night at the inn in the village about a fortnight ago when we went back to resupply.  I have to agree with you.  He was awful!"


    That set both of them to laughing, after which they proceeded from there to meet their destiny, each with an arm about the other''s shoulder in friendly camaraderie.


    "Oh ye gods!  Now I''m doing it.  Sorry Sara, Paolo."


    When they finally reached the top of the hill, false dawn had almost given way to true dawn, and the sun was about to rise above the mountains to the east.  However, they didn''t casually stroll up the last few feet but rather crept on their hands and knees, just in case.


    It was still almost dark, and the top of the hill was probably around 200 rods across, so what they saw was still mostly nothing.  Taking the lack of visible humans as a good sign, they got back on their feet and began to walk toward what sounded like either a small river or large creek, which made no sense at all.


    As they moved toward the sound, a confused Emil asked,  "William, have you ever heard of a river flowing out of the top of a flat hill?  I mean, if it truly is water that we''re hearing, where''s it coming from?  From what I saw last evening it looked as if the hill pretty much sloped down on all sides.  Or did I miss something?"


    William ran his hand across the top of his head.  "Can''t say as I''ve ever heard of such a thing either Emil.  I guess we''re about to find out though.  It seems rather close now."


    It was only about two minutes later that they could see the vague outline of what looked at first like an upside-down waterfall.  Water seemed to be flowing up toward the sky for about a full rod and a half, in a narrow stream -- maybe 2 feet wide -- before crashing back down to earth.


    The two men looked at it, then looked at each other, then looked back at the waterfall again.  As the sun''s leading edge crept over the mountain and cast its first rays slanting downward, they beheld a sight that seemed as if it belonged in a fairyland.  The light flashed through and about the waterfall as if it were playing with it.


    "Oh darn!  I''m doing it again."


    At any rate, they were standing there, bemused, when Emil murmured, "It''s a wonder to see no matter how it happens that it''s there."


    From about two or three rods off to his right a voice, and it was definitely a female voice, answered, "I agree wholeheartedly.  It is indeed amazing."


    William and Emil spun in the direction of the voice and beheld another sight nearly as amazing as that of water trying to flow uphill.  In front of them were two women, trailed by a single man who was wearing a uniform with the crest of Baron Jeffries on the left breast.   In all honesty, they immediately discounted him, seeing as his sword was in its scabbard, and he was pointedly looking at the water and not them.


    While having two women in the forefront, so to speak, was of itself astonishing, what they were wearing was even more so.  The one on the right, facing Emil, was rather slim, a bit on the short side, and was wearing a loose shirt and trousers that seemed be be a mix of various colors.  She had dark, short cut hair like a man, and had a longbow over her shoulder.  The other woman was facing William and was, in a way, even more odd.  She was wearing a dress that one might see on a lady in her family''s keep, but she had a sword belt around her waist.  Not only that, the way her right hand was resting on the hilt of the sword indicated some experience with its use.  Unlike the speaker she was rather remarkably full figured and and had long hair that was definitely some shade of blonde.


    It was Emil who first managed to speak, "May I assume that, like us, you have no intention of pursuing the hostilities begun by our deceased Baron Childers and the presumably deceased Baron Jeffries?"


    As he had spoken, Emil had gradually found it more and more difficult to force out the words.  For some reason his attention was being drawn away from what he was saying and toward the lovely green eyes of the young woman standing in front of him.


    She seemed likewise somewhat tongue-tied as her mouth could be seen moving, but no words passed her lips.  Shortly the woman to her right replied,  "You have the right of it milord.  We came hither to essay the possibility of putting an end to this farce, or at least to secure a truce so that we might withdraw in peace."


    "It wasn''t me this time.  She really talks, talked, like that."


    William answered,  "Well said milady.  We are of like mind then.  Let us gather some quantity of wood and light a fire that we may avoid taking a chill while we converse."


    "Yes I know Sara. He said that it was the influence of a bad poet, but that one was incredibly fond of what passed for romance stories in those days.  He was already gobsmacked by having met a woman who obviously felt the same as he did about language and how it should be spoken."


    Emil and the the girl with the bow nodded in unison then walked off together to hunt for wood.  Seeing that William and Emil meant his charges no harm, the soldier, who could now be seen to be getting on in years, wandered off to find wood as well.


    William and the lady stayed behind and reveled in the simple act of speaking to each other and in trying to outdo each other in composing extravagant sentences.


    Surprisingly it took only a few minutes to find sufficient dry wood to build a small fire.  It didn''t warm them much, but it was better than nothing.


    For a time they huddled around it until Emil noticed something.  Now that the sun was almost fully up above the nearby mountain peak, he could see that there was a pool that extended a good 10 or so  yards away from the ''waterfall'' and that the surface was steaming.


    He walked over to the edge and gingerly stuck a finger in the water.  Pulling his hand back in surprise, he repeated the motion, this time submerging his entire hand.  He stood and turned to the others.  "The water!  It''s warm.  In fact it''s about the same temperature as a bath before the first person uses it."


    The women stood together as if they were puppets controlled by the same master and dreamily approached the edge.  "A bath."  "It''s been weeks since I''ve had a bath."  "Our clothes are filthy too.  I wonder if we could wash them along with ourselves."  They approached and stopped right by the edge and stared at the pool hungrily.


    The idea of a bath more than appealed to Emil as well.  A smith got excessively dirty in the course of his work, and bathing, or at least washing as much as he could, was part of his daily routine.  As with the ladies, the idea of a bath was nearly overwhelming.  It had been at least two weeks since he''d had a good cleanup.  "You know, I saw some larger branches back a ways and I have some cord in my pocket.  I think I could make something we could use by the fire to dry our clothes."


    The others nodded, and this time all four of them went off to gather wood.  Within less than 10 minutes Emil and William had constructed two fairly sturdy racks which they placed beside a new, larger fire that they built two yards from the edge of the pool.


    The armsman stayed by the first fire after carefully positioning himself with his back to them.


    Without saying a word the two couples each walked about 15 yards in opposite directions and, after taking off their boots, waded into the water.  They discovered that there was some sort of ledge, apparently stone, a little shy of a yard below the surface of the water.  It appeared to extend completely around the edge of the pool.


    "Don''t either of you say anything.  Yes I put it there.  If they''d slipped in the mud that had been there originally it would have spoiled the mood."


    The spray from the "waterfall" and the steam from the water completely shrouded each couple from the view of the other although each could hear the faint sound of voices and some degree of vigorous splashing.  A few minutes later William and Emil appeared back at the racks and carefully hung all their clothes to dry.


    "Emil, what in the name of Heaven are we doing?  This makes no sense at all.  I can wrap my mind around the idea that we''re not fighting, but the rest of this..."  He gestured at their naked bodies.


    "We''re taking baths with women who aren''t our wives and who we just met.  It''s more than crazy.  Ah, I''m not imagining this, am I?"


    "Well William, if you are, so am I.  And whether I''m imagining it or not, I fully intend to get back over to  Aradia as soon as possible.  I''m clean and warm for the first time in weeks, and I am NOT going to come back here till I''ve had a good soak and our clothes are dry, which should be about an hour.


    "And speaking of which, you do realize that we''re going to have to marry them, don''t you?  Once word of this gets out, and you can be sure that it will somehow, no other man would ever have them."


    He shrugged his shoulders and gave William a wry grin.  "Besides, if your situation is anything at all like mine, you don''t want any other man to have her, do you?"


    William grinned back at Emil and shook his head.  Then they turned and headed back to their ladies.  As he did so, William realized that he hadn''t even asked her name yet.  Although he was still somewhat disoriented by everything that had happened, he was quite sure that one doesn''t ask for a woman''s hand in marriage if one doesn''t know her name.  He promised himself that he would rectify that in the near future, although perhaps not immediately.  The idea of holding her hand and gazing into her eyes seemed more important at the moment.


    As Emil returned and slipped into the water next to Aradia she smiled at him and asked, "Well my love, how was he?  Is he as besotted with Philipa as we are with each other?"


    "Probably more so.  He''s always been more of a dreamer than anything else.  Right now though, that''s going to be a good thing.  We''re going to need a dreamer if we''re going to build something out of this mess."


    He looked down at her.  "I''m assuming that you''re a lot more like me, or perhaps I should say that we''re alike in being of a more practical bent.  Am I right?"


    "Indeed you are.  I''ve ever wanted to know how to make things work more than why they do.  I''m quite happy to let others figure out that part.  Speaking of which, what is it that you do anyway?"


    Emil laughed.  "I guess we''ll be asking each other a lot of questions like that for a while."  He smiled and added, "But that''s going to be a lot of the fun.  I''m a smith, and just between us, I''m one of the best I know of.  I also suspect that I''m not going to be without work for quite a long time to come."


    Aradia laughed too.  "I''m sure that you''re right about that.  As for me, I''ve been the best with a bow in my father''s keep since I was nine years old, and I''ve continued to improve since then.  So here I am at 20, the chief huntsman for my father Baron Jeffries.  Not exactly what you''d expect from a noblewoman, eh?"


    Emil started and exclaimed, "You?  You''re the baron''s daughter?  But...but I though that she..." He pointed in the general direction of the giggling they now heard.  "I mean she was wearing a fancy dress and all, so I assumed..."


    Aradia laid a hand on Emil''s shoulder, then, thinking better of it, removed her hand and replaced it with her head.  "She''s my maid, and rather good at it too, though her first love is horses.  She can get a horse to do anything for her.  Now my love, I''m more than tired."


    She slid herself sideways onto his lap and laid her head on his chest.  "As long as I don''t start to slip into the water, please let me sleep until you think that our clothes will be dry."


    Emil nodded and soon Aradia''s regular breathing declared that she was indeed sleeping though, oddly, for just a while as she was drifting off, he could have sworn that she was purring.  As for himself, Emil stared into the glowing mist and let his mind wander, thinking about the future and what they might build as they moved into it.

 Ch 12 - The Day of the Founding (2/2)

    To a casual observer it would have seemed as if Father Elias Townsend was indifferent to the sounds emanating from the waters behind him.  To his right he heard the murmur of voices in what appeared to be serious conversation, and he nodded his head.   Trust Lady Aradia to maintain her composure, even in a situation such as this where she suddenly found herself totally naked and alone with a likewise naked and handsome young man.


    From his left, well, Philipa had always been the lusty type who watched her horses breeding with a great deal more than innocent interest.  That was all he was going to say, or think, about that.   Besides, he had other things on his mind that were, or seemed to be, more important.  Only, given the situation, he wasn''t so sure about that any more.


    When he had heard them talking so wisfully about taking a bath, it had taken all his prodigious will power to keep from jumping to his feet and shouting at them, "What in God''s name are you thinking!?"  Men and women who were complete strangers simply did NOT bathe together.  In his, albeit limited, experience even married couples almost never did.


    The only thing that restrained him was a dream...no...it wasn''t a dream.  For what was possibly the first time in his life, Elias was being forced to be brutally honest with himself.  He''d always loved the idea of service to others and had been drawn to the Church like a moth to a flame.  Oh, yes, he''d been more than a little irritated when he was assigned to this benighted region of what was nominally Italy, but he''d adjusted and had been happy.  Or at least that was what he''d convinced himself of.


    Finding himself forced into a soldier''s uniform on threat of great bodily harm by the unlamented Baron Jeffries had nearly unbalanced him, which said much about the Baron''s state of mind as well.  One does not force a churchman into military garb, even if, as he had been told, it was to impress upon any enemy observer that there were more soldiers than expected in the Baron''s force.


    Elias snorted.  As if one extra body would make any difference.


    It was total nonsense of course.  The Baron had nobody to send out to be a scout, so why would that other Baron, what was his name?  Oh yes, Childers.  An odd name that.  Anyway, where was he?  Yes, right, that.  He was sitting by a fire listening to....  Oh God!  His mind was going in circles.  Focus, focus!  There was definitely something in this fog or mist or whatever that made it hard to concentrate.  Or perhaps it was the crushing fatigue that had accumulated in the past five weeks.


    Where was he?  The dream.  Right.  No, the vision he''d had last night.  Since he was being honest, he might as well admit that he''d been having visions for years, including that time he''d been warned not to let on that he was a much better mage than his superiors suspected.  If he had, he''d probably be back in Naples or Rome or Milan living a life of relative luxury in service to a bishop or archbishop.  Then he wouldn''t be here in this Godforsaken place.


    He cocked his head and considered.  Perhaps it wasn''t Godforsaken after all.  The miraculous happenings of the past hour could hardly have happened in a place that God had abandoned.  And there he was again, letting his mind veer away from what he needed to do.


    Focus, focus....  The vision last night had been full of colors and swirling lights and strange, nearly overwhelming sounds.  Rather like the past hour.  Then there had been the voice.  Even now he couldn''t tell if it had been a male or a female voice.  That was passing strange.  Well, he supposed that it didn''t matter.  What did matter was what it said which was:


    "There will be great turmoil in the sky which will be reflected on the Earth, and all will be turned upside down.  Then that which should not be will come to pass for it is that which must be, and from this will come that which cannot be imagined but which will one day be imagined.  In the fullness of time, there will be order that exists only because of ongoing disorder, and the world will be entirely changed from what was known."


    It was that which kept him sitting and shivering by the fire.  Bah, he was an idiot!  There was no reason to hide any longer, and he hated being cold.  Thus he shrugged himself out of the odoriferous tunic and pulled his clerical robe out of his backpack.  Then he caused all the water on his skin and in his clothing to go elsewhere, leaving him dry and, by the time the two couples returned, warm.


    He turned to face them and noticed without a trace of surprise that each couple was holding hands.  Although he was dry, he was still tired, dirty, and hungry.  In his haste to be the first on the high ground, the Baron hadn''t bothered to feed anyone that morning.


    Seeing the earnest young faces in front of him, and before they could interrupt with any meaningless, embarrassed drivel, he spoke first, "All right.  I suppose congratulations are in order, so let''s get on with it, shall we?"


    William and Philipa looked at each other, then turned back to Father Elias with puzzled faces.  Aradia and the Emil boy however.... They blushed and nodded at him.  Elias had long known that she had a good head on her shoulders.  It was encouraging that this tall, heavily muscled young man was also quick on the uptake.


    "I''ll make it short seeing has how there are two ''armies'' down the sides of the hill who are probably getting extremely curious about now.  We don''t want your efforts at making peace to get ruined by another battle, do we?"


    Their reactions were interesting.  Philipa and William shook their heads "no," while Aradia and Emil shook theirs "yes."   No matter how simply you say something, two people often manage to interpret it differently.


    "Ok then."  He turned slightly to his left.  "Aradia, do you take Emil to be your lawful husband?"


    "I do."


    "Emil, do you take Aradia to be your lawful wife."


    Tongue-tied, Emil nodded, several times.


    "Right then.  You''re now husband and wife."


    He turned to William and Philipa, "Now then, your turn.  Will you consent to be married?"


    They looked at each other and also blushed as they finally understood what was going on.  Next they looked back to Father Elias and whispered, "yes".


    "Good. You''re married too.  Now each of you couples get out there and fix things."  Saying that he waved his hands in the general directions of the two forces.


    It was Philipa who blurted out what three of them had been thinking, "But Father Elias, are you sure?  Is it legal to do it this way?  Getting married I mean?"


    Hearing this man who had recently been wearing a soldier''s tunic called "Father" by Philipa was most reassuring to William and Emil.  It was Aradia who answered Philipa''s question, and she counted her points off on her fingers.


    "1) He is a properly ordained priest and can legally perform marriages.


    "2) A marriage requires the consent of those being married.  We meet that requirement.


    "3) There must be two adult witnesses.  We satisfy that as well.


    "4) Well, there is no four.  By custom we have rather elaborate ceremonies for nobles, but commoners just throw a party."  She turned to Emil, "Don''t they?"


    Seeing his nod, she continued, "There''s nothing in the law dictating how the priest handles the actual marriage.  That being the case, we''re married."  She turned back to Elias, "Are we not?"


    "Indeed you are child.  Now get going.  Off wit ye!"


    The children shrugged, smiled at each other, then wandered off hand-in-hand in approximately the correct directions. As for Elias....


    Now that they were gone, he intended to have a good soak himself before all the others arrived.  If he knew his people, and he did, they were all going to want to wash their clothes and get warm, and he supposed that the other side would as well.  That of itself should put to an end any lingering resentment toward their opposites.  It''s hard to be angry when you''re naked and having a comfortable soak in hot water.


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    Suddenly he knew what he needed to do as soon as it proved possible.  The community that would form here would need a church, maybe two depending on how many people came and stayed.  He intended that the first one be dedicated to the memory of the miracles that had just happened.


    -------------------------


    "That''s enough for now.  The rest of the story is mostly what you were taught in school.  Take some deep breaths and focus your minds on being Sara and Paolo rather than....  Anyway, concentrate."


    Paolo and Sara blinked as if the light in the room were too bright, then shook their heads.  Their vision was a bit fuzzy but soon resumed normal focus.


    Paolo exclaimed, "That...that was incredible!  Did it really happen like that?"  He blushed furiously, which was quite an accomplishment given his dusky coloring.  "I mean did those other two really do...that...right after they met?"


    Sara whacked him on the back of the head with her palm.  She said not a single word, but she was blushing brightly as well.


    Lady Blue ignored Paolo''s intent and instead answered him literally, "Yes they really did get married.  Baron Jeffries forces seeing Aradia and Emil walking toward them holding hands, and Baron Childers'' seeing William and Philipa doing the same, put to rest any possible lingering thoughts of fighting.


    "That''s important of course, but what''s pertinent for you today is the consequences of their marriages.  I''ll give you two hints.  William and Philipa''s first children were born nine months and seven days later.  Out of an eventual total of nine children, there were three sets of twins.


    "Aradia and Emil were a bit more careful seeing as how they were essentially in charge of the construction and organizing of the new town that William and Philipa laid out.  Their first child was born something over two years later.  All in all, among their six children, there were two sets of twins."


    Blue stared at them.  "Well, I''m waiting  I''m rather good at it, so feel free to take your time, though I''d suggest that it not be over a week.  You can die without having food or water for a week you know."


    Lady Blue waited, showing no sign of impatience.  After about five or six minutes she sighed. "Oh all right, I''ll give you a hint.  In the entire rest of the world, on average, there is one set of twins out of every 84 births.  Here it is one in four.  This is also almost the only place in the world where every single set of twins can speak in ''twin''."


    After that hint, Sara figured out what was what in less than two minutes.  "Oh!  The water.  There''s something about the water from the spring that makes women have twins so often!"


    "Bingo!  We have a winner."  The lady applauded quietly.  "Indeed, the water.  Its presence is at least as important, and perhaps more so in the grand scheme of things, than the presence of The City itself.  Without the water you don''t have all those twins.  Without the twins you''d have a great deal more inefficiency in critical positions in the military, government, business, and such.


    "I suspect that Emil and Aradia figured that out fairly quickly since a law requiring that each head of a family must either have the water piped to their homes or contribute to the plumbing of whichever bathhouse was closest if there was insufficient room in their homes..


    "From day one, for sanitary reasons, watering the animals was limited to water that had flowed at least half-way down the hill.  I must say that it''s fortunate indeed that an aqueduct to bring water from higher in the mountains nearby was built within a few decades.  If not for the sewer system that was built then, things might have been most unpleasant what with all the livestock in The City in the early years."


    Lady Blue bent forward slightly and put her hands on her slim hips.  "You really have no idea at all how fortunate you are to live where there is hot running water for your baths and fairly clean water on tap in your kitchens and jakes.  The incidence of serious diseases here is less than a tenth of what it is in the rest of Europe."


    Her expression was one of restrained sadness when she added, "Though the side effect of all this is a much higher than normal frequency of miscarriages."  She shook herself.  "My, my, look at me.  I went off into lecture mode again.  You really need to stop me when I do that."


    Seeing the helpless looks on the children''s faces, she relented sooner than she''d originally intended. "I''m joking.  I''m joking.  I know that you''re much too polite to interrupt me, at least for now.  We''ll see how things play out in three or four decades."


    Sara and Paolo turned toward each other and had another silent conversation.  Then they turned back to Lady Blue, obviously wanting to ask something but clearly not sure of how to go about it.  "Hmm.  What''s this I see?  Doubts? Let me check."


    She looked carefully at each of them for several seconds.  "Ah.  So that''s it.  First, let''s see if I''ve figured out your question and then I''ll answer it, OK?"


    Not waiting for them to reply, she forged ahead, "You''re both wondering how much of this I made up.  You''re having problems believing that two couples who had just met could fall instantly in love.  You''re both aware of it happening with Cabinet Master Linton and his wife eight years ago, but it''s pretty rare, and two at once is a no-go from where you sit.  "Did I get it right?"


    Seeing surprised nods, she nodded herself.  "I can''t give you a detailed answer, not for a while anyway, but I will say this.  I ALWAYS keep my promises.  That being the case, I helped each of them along a bit by letting each of them see how compatible they were.  And, before you ask, no I will NOT tell you how I did that.  You don''t need to know, at least not yet.  All you need to know right now is that it all happened exactly as you saw it.  Capiche?"


    "Yes my Lady."  "Sure, I guess so."


    She tapped her forefinger against her cheek.  "Let''s see, where was I?  Oh yes.  There is a point to all this apparently useless information.  And the point is this.  Those so-called ''temporal engineers'' who came up with the idea of building The City are exactly that.  Engineers.  They have no skills in city planning, management of human relations, politics, or anything else that doesn''t involve a laboratory.  That''s why I got involved.


    "Someone had to help with growing The City and keeping the people in it strong and healthy, and that person is me.  Otherwise the engineer''s plan would have fallen apart within no more than a decade.  That''s why your parents and their ancestors have kept their secret journals, as a history detailing what works and what doesn''t and, as best they''ve been able to determine, why.  To the engineers this is all an experiment.  They don''t understand how to work with people -- which is why they accidentally almost destroyed your mind this morning Paolo."


    She was interrupted by an odd growling sound.  At first there was no clear source, but, as it got louder, it became evident that what was growling was Sara.  Not only that, she looked ready to shred someone.


    Lady Blue laughed.  "That''s my girl!"  She turned to Paolo and mock whispered, "You''d better get your bottom in high gear, otherwise you''re never going to be strong enough to be her partner in crime."


    As Paolo struggled with the idea that Lady Blue knew what he''d been thinking at the dinner on Friday, she turned to Sara and began to stroke her head.  "Don''t worry child.  Miranda chewed them up one side and down the other when she found out what they''d done.


    "Let me tell you, if I hadn''t had a wall of silence between us at the other end, my laughter would surely have scared them out of their wits since they couldn''t see me.  No, correct that.  They were already scared out of their wits by Miranda.  Hmm.  Then would they have been scareder out of their wits?  Is ''scareder'' a word?  I''ll have to think on it.


    "At any rate, they won''t do anything that stupid again, which I guess is a good reinforcement of my point.  We can''t have them knowing that I, and my allies in The City, have been working on the social engineering of The City while they''ve worked on the physical end.  I''m absolutely sure that they''d want to meddle."


    Paolo raised his hand.  "Ah, my lady, does that mean that we," he pointed to himself and Sara, "have been elected as your next generation of allies?"


    The lady clapped her hands together and giggled.  "What a good boy.  You''re starting to use that mind of yours now.  You are correct.  You''re among the first few of the next generation of allies.  Counting backwards you''re the 34th generation I''ll be working with."


    She looked out the window.  "My the time has flown, hasn''t it?  I''ll pop downstairs to see Miranda, and then I''ll stop by to see Blair to let her know that Sara will be having dinner here tonight."


    The look she directed at the couple was almost, but not quite, a leer.  "Then Paolo can walk you home.  After all, a young lady shouldn''t be out on the streets after dark, not even in a city as safe as this one.  And, who knows, a few kisses and such might be exchanged in a sheltered spot or two on the way."


    Lady Blue stood and brushed off her skirt.  "I really must go.  Things to do and people to see you know.  I''ll drop in on you later, but not tonight.  Goodbye my dears."


    Sara and Paolo didn''t move.  They couldn''t.  They''d both been looking right at the lady.  Suddenly she wasn''t there anymore.  Paolo recovered first and said, "She said that we''ll be the 34th generation she''s worked with.  I wonder how old she is?"


    "I HEARD THAT!  Blue''s voice resounded in their minds.


    "Never ask a lady her age.  Besides, it doesn''t matter how old she is.  A lady who looks after her health, eats well, and exercises regularly will always look younger than her chronological age, and that''s what really matters.


    "Oh yes, I forgot one thing.  I figure that you have about 11 and a  half minutes before I''m through talking with Miranda and she comes up after you, so that''s all the time you have for whatever you might do until then.  And don''t forget that Sara will need at least a minute to fix herself so she doesn''t look mussed."


    Sara looked at Paolo speculatively and saw him looking back with the same expression.  As it played out, they cut things a bit close.  But, by helping each other, they both managed to be completely presentable when they opened Paolo''s door and met his mother, who was almost at the top of the stairs.


    Miranda''s eyebrows both twitched slightly as she took in their overly innocent faces.  Only one who was an expert at reading people would have noticed that she was working very hard not to react more strongly than that to the faint, nearly subsonic purring coming from Sara.


    All she said was, "It''s so good of you to join us for dinner Sara.  If you''ll both come with me please?"


    Sara bowed her acquiescence, and the trio made their way to the dining room.

 Ch 13

    INTERLUDE


    Professor Ptica drew herself to her full height, "Well, I suppose I should answer your question now rather than later.  Yes, I know I told you not to ask any, but I''m volunteering to answer the question you didn''t ask, so it''s OK.  Which question?  Please, it''s written all over your faces.  I''m of course referring to the one about how Lady Blue had been working with so many people over so many hundreds of years.  I''ll spare you the details of the alternate means she didn''t use, seeing as they''re all inefficient and extremely dangerous.


    "What she did was use No-Time.  It''s highly useful.  Normally it''s used by beings who are in a crisis situation and need some extra time to work out what to do.  Step into No-Time and you''re free to take all the time you need, within reason, while time appears to be frozen wherever it was you came from.


    "The only limitation is that it''s not safe to be there for more than a few days, maybe a week at most, before your body begins to break down.  I recommend avoiding that.


    "However, there is another use.  It''s one which it won''t hurt you to know and you''re free to tell anyone you''re authorized to speak to about these matters, because neither you nor they will be able to use it.  No-Time is exactly that.  Time doesn''t affect anything there.  People with the right skills can step into No-Time and step out at any time in the past or future that they choose.  That''s what Lady Blue did/does/will do whenever she needs to be in some when that she isn''t in at the moment.


    "The reason that you''re allowed to know about it this early in your training is that it takes about four thousand years of practice to come out within a million or so kilometers of where you intended to.  Why you ask?  I''ll tell you.  I''m nice that way.


    "Most beings who write about or think about time travel think only about the time.  They ALL forget that things move.  There''s the orbit of planets around their suns, the movement of suns about the centers of their galaxies, and the movements of the galaxies too.  Then you also have to factor in the expansion of the universe.


    "The math involved is several orders of magnitude beyond what even the most complex supercomputer can normally handle.  If you''re off even in the 20th decimal place, you''ll probably end up somewhere in outer space, and, depending on which you find worse, frying or freezing, you could instead end up inside a star.


    "Lady Blue is the only hypothetical being I''m personally aware of who can do it regularly and survive the experience.  However I''m a mere university professor, so I have no idea how many real beings in the multiverses, if any, can accomplish it.


    "I see puzzled faces.  Yes, I called her a ''hypothetical being''.  This entire story is, after all, a fiction put together to teach you about intersecting cultures.  Don''t confuse it with reality.


    "Well, that''s enough of a digression from the main story.  Let''s get back to the lesson, shall we?"


    ----------------------------


    They all had an enjoyable meal.  The younger sibs, especially Eugenia, were thrilled to have their new "sister" for dinner.  Paolo''s parents had another preliminary discussion concerning the wedding plans while the children nattered to Sara and Paolo about this and that.  Afterwards it was a typical evening for Paolo as it was back to his mother''s study for more training, although this time Sara was also "invited."


    Once they were settled, Miranda began, "Well, I see that the other player in our project has introduced herself, also without preamble, but, she did the same with my own first meeting with her, and your father''s.  It seems to be the way she operates, and nobody would dare to tell her to do it differently...or rather we all know how futile doing so would be.  Besides, she doesn''t terrify people when she first meets them.  Startles, surprises, blows the mind, or some such, but never terrifies."


    She eyed Paolo closely.  "At least she doesn''t seem to have nearly destroyed you like those idiots from the future did.  Did she?"


    Paolo hastened to reassure his mother that, while he had been startled, she was a lot easier to deal with than disembodied writing addressed to him appearing in what had seemed at first to be an ordinary book.


    Miranda nodded.  "Good.  I''d hate to have to give her a piece of my mind.  She can bite back, and, frankly, she''s one being that I wouldn''t care to cross."


    Sara and Paolo glanced at each other and shared an expression comprised of surprise and some degree of disbelief.  Though Miranda rarely showed it, they were both aware that she was a mage of more than average ability.  How much they weren''t sure, but they had both observed over the years that everyone they''d ever seen interact with her went out of their way to avoid irritating her.


    It wasn''t that she demanded or, for that matter, indicated in any way that she wanted special treatment.  Somehow it always happened.  Here Paolo was at a disadvantage.  She was his mother, and one rarely looks at one''s parent as anything other than "just" mom or dad.


    Sara, on the other hand, was still something of an outsider, no matter that she''d been around Paolo''s family since she was an infant.  Perhaps it was also, at least in part, because she was also a woman and saw things that men tended to miss.  Regardless of the cause, even though she had come to love Miranda dearly, she was well aware of the leashed power within her.


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    Consequently, while she was thrilled at the prospect of becoming her daughter-in-law, she was also somewhat afraid of her.  Also, unlike Paolo, she had known from childhood that it was useless to try to hid anything from his mother.  She looked at Miranda, smiled warmly at her, shrugged her shoulders, and made a "there''s nothing I can do about it" gesture with her hands.


    Fortunately, Miranda knew well that there was something that she could do about it, so she did.  "I see that we''d better take care of this matter before we do anything else.  Come here Sara."


    For a change, Paolo didn''t wonder what was going on.  He''d heard that tone of voice before.  He''d seen his mother act in a similar way a number of times over the years, though always with younger children.  To be frank, he was looking forward to seeing how embarrassed Sara became before it was all over.


    For her part, Miranda looked at Paolo then rolled her eyes to look at the heavens, doing a credible "Why me?" with that simple movement.  Then taking hold of Sara''s hand, she pulled her into her lap and wrapped her arms around her.


    An almost soundless crooning filled the room, and Miranda began to rock back and forth as if Sara were a young child being comforted by her mother.  At first Sara looked both extremely embarrassed and frightened, but within moments she''d collapsed bonelessly into Miranda''s arms, closed her eyes, and fallen deeply asleep.


    Paolo stood and silently crossed the room.  He knelt by his mother''s left side and took her free hand in his.  Next he took the back of her hand and held it to his cheek.  "I studied my heart out for the exams, but even after learning all those new things, I don''t have the words to say what I want to right now.  Thank you Mother.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you."


    Miranda unwrapped her right arm from around Sara and, for the next little while, held her in place with a minor binding while she stroked Paolo''s cheek.  "You''re welcome Paulito.  I''m doing this as much for you as for her.  She was afraid of my power, and afraid of what I might do should I become angry with her when she makes mistakes.  She was also afraid of not being able to live up to my expectations -- as well as those of her family.  That''s far too heavy a burden for a child to have to bear.


    "As we grow we encounter enough real problems that it''s best not to have to deal with imaginary ones as well.  Be assured that I didn''t change her memories or anything horrid like that.  What I did was help her to push those particular worries to a part of her mind where she''ll probably look at them now and then and then laugh at how silly they were.


    "Frankly it was rather easy.  Knowing how dearly loved she is by all of us would eventually have accomplished the same thing."


    She grinned mischievously at Paolo.  "But that would have taken a year or two, and it would have slowed your training."


    Paolo smiled back at her, putting all his gratitude into it, then ghosted back across the room and sat down.


    Eventually Sara awoke and blinked her eyes.  She looked at where she was and said, "Oh."  This time there was only the faintest blush on her cheeks.


    She lifted her left hand and stroked Miranda''s right cheek, very gently. "Thank you.  My mind was running around and around in circles, and I didn''t know how to make it stop."


    Then she gave Miranda a big hug, kissed her on the cheek, and hopped off her lap.  She crossed the room and, to his surprise, kissed Paolo on the cheek as well before she sat next to him and gave Miranda her full attention.


    "Well children, we don''t have a great deal to do today.  From what she told me, I can see that you''ve already been through almost more than you should have.  Therefore I''ll limit myself to giving you a bit of homework.  Ask yourselves this: ''In what ways can I best gather information without seeming to do so?''  I expect your answers to reflect an examination of how both men and women of varying ages will treat you when you''re with them and how you can alter your behavior in whatever way will work best to encourage them to talk to you...or to completely ignore you while they talk to someone else.


    "We''ll put off dealing with extracting information from children to another time.  The techniques for that are substantially different, and exploring those for adults and children simultaneously could be too much for you to remember."


    She stood and Sara and Paolo quickly followed suit.  She walked over and hugged Sara gently then kissed the top of her head. "Give my regards to Blair.  Your father will still be at a meeting when you get home."


    Turning to Paolo she added, "You will walk her home of course."  Then she arched an eyebrow.  "Detours and delays will not be appropriate, at least not today.  Besides the two of you have been busy enough already.  I expect that you''re nearly exhausted."


    The children bowed then turned and left the room.


    As they were walking hand-in-hand on the way to Sara''s, Paolo turned to her and asked, "When my mother said that we''d been ''busy enough'' today, was she referring to what Lady Blue did with us, or do you think she was talking about, well, you know...."


    Sara punched him, hard, in the arm with her free hand and hissed at him, "Idiot, what if there''s someone nearby who can hear you."  She gestured to the darkening street.  "It''s dark enough that there could be someone in any of those shadows."


    Then she leaned close to his ear and whispered, "I don''t know which she was referring to. Or maybe it was both.  Either way I''m not ever going to ask her.  Would you?"


    Paolo considered, then shook his "no" several times.  "Never, as long as I live."


    From that point on they shared an amicable silence.


    On his way back home, Paolo sauntered along while his mind was randomly reviewing the events of the day.  He stopped suddenly as a particular memory rose to the surface of his mind.  Before he and Sara had left, his mother had glanced at the clock above the fireplace.


    She couldn''t be, could she?


    Realizing that it was entirely possible that she was, Paolo hurried his steps.  If his mother was tracking how long it took him to get home, he didn''t want to be late.  The last thing he needed was having to deal with a mother who suspected that he done something with Sara other than escort her to her house and then return directly home.


    On the way up the stairs to his room another memory surfaced.  His mother had said that "detours and delays will not be appropriate today."  That implied that on other days....


    Smiling the entire time, he got ready for bed, blew out the lamp at his bedside, crawled in, and was still smiling when he fell asleep.

 Ch 14 - The New Recruit

    Later that evening, Eugenia positioned herself in her mother''s study with her field wrapped around her.  After her mother had sat down, then sprawled back in her chair, Eugenia dropped the field and waited.


    Miranda''s eyes instantly widened in surprise, then narrowed in suspicion as she remembered a number of times that things had seemingly disappeared from the kitchen or books that were not precisely appropriate for children had vanished from the library and then had reappeared without anyone being seen.


    She opened her mouth to speak, but she was forestalled by Eugenia''s outstretched palm.  "Mother, you''ve been seeking someone this past week.  It appears that the person you need is me."


    Miranda winced then closed her eyes, apparently in pain.  She opened her eyes again, and her expression was indecipherable.  "Give me your hands."


    Eugenia walked forward and stretched out her hands, after which Miranda gently took them in hers.  Eugenia felt a tingling passing from her mother''s hands into her body.  Then it swept back again as Miranda gathered up...whatever it was.


    She let go of Eugenia''s hands then slumped back into her chair again.  Not knowing what to do, Eugenia stood where she was and waited.


    Finally Miranda chuckled.  What she said both confused and shocked Eugenia.  "Well, it finally makes sense.  You''re not going to be able to marry him for another seven or eight years give or take.  This will keep you more than busy while you wait."


    The reason for the shock was obvious.  Her mother had noticed her noticing Jason, though she had no idea at all how she''d managed to do it.  Eugenia couldn''t think of anything at all that would connect the two things; Jason and this position -- whatever it was.  Before she could come up with something sensible to say, Miranda forged ahead, "I see that you have some formidable talent with magery, given that you could sneak up on me like that.  Should I take it that you unraveled my seeking completely, or only partially?"


    Her mother had assumed the expression that had most disconcerted Eugenia throughout her childhood, that of an inquisitor.  She fell into the appropriate posture, with her back straight and her arms stiffly down at her sides.  She recited the specifications of the seeking as she had read them and then stopped.  Her mother disliked, intensely, people who added useless words to what they said.


    Miranda stared at her for several seconds then waved her arm toward a chair.  "Sit child.  Sit.  I''m not going to bite.  At least I''m not going to bite you.  I may kick myself a few times for not noticing your ability, but that will only involve me.  It''s not your fault that I was an idiot."


    She laced her fingers behind her head and leaned back once more.  "Where to begin?  Well, let''s start here and see where it goes.  You are of course aware that I collect information for your father, since we made sure from the time you were little that you knew that I was involved in things that are not generally considered womanly.  We didn''t want you, or your sibs, growing up thinking that your sex should automatically restrict your choices."


    Eugenia nodded her agreement, and Miranda continued, "What you didn''t know is that a great deal of the information I gather has nothing to do with finance.  I won''t swear you to silence...that''s so cliched.  I will however tell you that, by law, if you reveal anything at all of what I''m about to tell you to another living person without my permission, or Blair''s, you''ll spend the rest of your life in prison."


    Miranda nodded at Eugenia''s shocked look.  "Yes, it''s that important.  Do you want me to continue?  You don''t have to do this you know.  In many ways I''d prefer that you didn''t.  Even so I won''t stand in your way if you want to see it through.  You know what will be required of you, at least in general.  Can you see it through?  Do you have enough determination to do so?


    "You won''t be required to continue even once I tell you what''s really happening.  You''ll be allowed to walk away, with the aforementioned stipulation regarding your silence.  However, if you DO accept the position, you''ll be bound to continue until a month before you marry.


    "Operatives who are engaged are usually considered to be more of a liability than an asset, so they are often allowed to ''retire'' unless a dire situation arises.  (Though some few continue ''working'' starting about a year after they''re married.)  In some cases they are recalled to active duty for the duration of whatever crisis is happening.  Afterwards, if they survive, they return to their ''normal'' lives.


    "Does knowing that help any my dear?"


    Eugenia closed her eyes and composed herself, then wrapped herself in silence, but not no-sight.  Then she looked inside herself.  What she saw was somewhat, though not entirely, surprising.  She was scared.  Who wouldn''t be when their mother mentioned that a "job" that one was considering carried with it a risk of dying.  On the other hand, she had especially studied history in school, and she was appalled by how the citizens of some other countries were treated.  She''d do anything to keep that from happening here.


    That was when she realized what so many others have come to understand over the centuries.  If one wishes to maintain one''s liberties, one must sometimes fight to keep them.  She also reasoned that there was no way in the world that her mother would toss her immediately into a dangerous situation.  Her mother was nothing if not thorough.  She''d be given some sort of training first.


    She dropped her silence and opened her eyes.  "Yes Mother, I do believe that I am the person you need.  Tell me what I need to do."


    Miranda smiled gently at her with pride and some degree of sadness.  Her daughter was going to be exposed to a world that most adults had no inkling of, much less children barely into puberty.  "First of all we''re going to talk to Blair.  I''m in charge of gathering information for the Duchess, but Blair''s the King''s Spymaster.  She''ll be responsible for your training in your new duties, though I''ll be the one working with you in honing your magery."


    Miranda waved her hand at Eugenia''s surprise, "Yes, I know.  Everyone assumes that the King''s Spymaster would obviously be with him in the capitol.  There is one there, at least he thinks he''s in charge.  The reality is that he only deals with ferreting out gossip and passing it along.  His "network" has as many holes in it as a pasta sieve.  Blair has found it useful to drop disinformation through one of those holes now and then.


    "Besides, who''d ever suspect that the center of espionage for the entire country would be in a smallish city far to the north?  It''s been a perfect cover for almost 300 years now.  Our, oh, let''s call them ''opponents'' have never truly realized how rapidly a chain of twins can convey information."


    She tapped her cheek with her fan.  "Getting back to you, we''ve never had an agent who could  make herself invisible and silent before.  Teaching a normal person to, hopefully, move with a minimal chance being seen or heard usually takes a full year."


    She grinned at Genie.  "Of course that means you''ll be working harder on more advanced subjects far sooner than usual.  And speaking of subjects, you''ll be transferring schools.  As soon as spring break is over, meaning the day after tomorrow, you''ll be attending Ingvold Academy."


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.    Miranda took no little pleasure in seeing Eugenia spring to her feet and exclaim, "Me!  At Ingvold?  That school for ultra-smart types who want to be scholars?  Why me?  Why there?"


    "The reasons are several my dear.  All Crown Agents need to know as much as possible about every country and principality we have or may have contact with.  That requires the study of history, and where better to learn it than at Ingvold?  Also, the school is owned outright by Blair and Hiroshi, though nobody knows that, which will make it easier to fit your special classes in with your regular schedule."


    Her eyes glittered with veiled amusement, "One of your first requirements will be that you learn enough to place somewhere between 40th and 50th when it''s time for you to take your City Exams.  Students at Ingvold are expected to do well.  However you don''t want to do well enough that you draw undue attention from the recruiters nor poorly enough that you are looked upon as not upholding the school''s tradition of excellence."


    Miranda took a great deal of pleasure in watching a host of emotions flit across Genie''s face.  Though she might deny it, vigorously, Genie was  much like Paolo in that she had a tendency toward laziness.  Not nearly as strong as his, but it was there.  She was going to have to work harder than she''d ever imagined if she were to become a Crown Agent, and excelling at academics would be a good start at instilling the proper discipline.


    --------------------------


    The next two weeks were extremely busy.  As soon as spring break ended, Eugenia felt that she was flying through the days.  Her parents and Blair Macklin handled the transfer to Ingvold Academy, but she''d had to say goodbye to all her friends and make up a plausible reason for her leaving her current school.  Fortunately she had already shown an unusual interest in history, so there was no undue surprise at her leaving.  What she hadn''t expected were so many comments along the line of:  "But don''t you have to be smart to go there?"


    Following her mother''s advice, rather than beating the offenders senseless, she gritted her teeth and smiled at them.


    As for the students at Ingvold, that was in some ways both easier and harder.  The school had some transfer students at the beginning of every new year; that much was true.  But it was also true that it was rare for said transfer student to come from within The City.  They usually were from someplace exotic like Ireland or Scandinavia, especially the latter as the school was named after a Norse diety and several of the faculty were from the area


    Due to her specialized program, Genie was going to require easy access to a large number of historical and political texts.  As she learned almost immediately, hazing of the underclassmen was still ubiquitous, and the upperclassmen tended to monopolize those books, even when they didn''t need them.   Fortunately for her, there was a solution.  As a trainee agent, copies of all of the most important texts were provided by the Crown and were already sitting on a bookshelf in her room.  She was required to feign frustration at school, but she was easily able to keep up by referencing what was in her home along with some of the less prized texts at the school library.


    Blair Macklin had been exquisitely clear about her duties when they had met, briefly, before one of the final fittings of Sara''s gown.  "You, child, are expected to do exactly two things right now.  The first is to study as if your life depends on it.  One day it may.  Secondly, you are to find a way to fit in with as many people as possible at school.  This is regardless of income, origin, or social class.  We need to be honest young lady.  You''re smart and pretty, but you tend to be more than a bit lacking in tact when you feel compelled to point out others'' mistakes.


    "You are allowed some help in this.  Talk to Sara.  Even without our help, she has completely mastered that ability.  Someone near your age will be a better teacher in this particular area.  However!  You may not tell her that this is an assignment."


    Blair laughed.  "Besides, she probably won''t ask.  She absolutely loves to help people with their problems.  That''s one of the reasons she''ll make someone training to be a priest such a good wife.


    "She''ll not need any prompting from you to understand that you''re scared and uneasy being in a new school and surrounded by people from different backgrounds than you''re accustomed to.  As a matter of fact, I recommend that you treat her as a reliable, older sister.  She loves you as much as you do her, so that shouldn''t require any effort from either of you, right?"


    As she left the room, Eugenia found herself bemused.  Paolo would be studying to be a priest?  Him?  Her lazy, good-for-nothing brother?  If ever there were a lesson about the world not being like we imagine it to be, here it was.


    And then there were their mothers.  Her mother and Mrs. Macklin were incredibly different people.  Miranda was almost excessively formal and tended to make suggestions that were thinly veiled commands, or outright commands (even though she''d managed to convince herself that she did no such thing).  She never raised her voice, but rather overwhelmed any opposition with the force of her personality.


    Blair approached things from an entirely different angle.  She was all smiles and cuddles, but one somehow always found oneself doing exactly what she wanted.  Perhaps it had to do with both her Scottish-Irish ancestry and Hiroshi''s Japanese roots.  The Irish part opened you up and drew you in, while the Japanese part found exactly the spot to knock you off balance without you knowing it.  It was like that thing Mr. Macklin had demonstrated, to her utter fascination, that he called "karate."


    Blair had kept Eugenia so busy that she had, as intended, forgotten to ask about who else at the school might be an agent trainee.  It probably didn''t matter.  There were only 56 students in each year of the six year program, as compared to up to 90 at Chapman, so there couldn''t be all that many.  There couldn''t be any younger than she was, could there?


    Before she could follow those thoughts any further, Sara escaped from her fitting and pulled Genie along with her.  Within moments they were out the door, arm in arm, heading toward the nearest Fukui Patisserie for a mid-afternoon snack and a hearty portion of gossip.


    As they headed out, Blair closed the door as she entered the study she shared with her husband Hiroshi.  "Well my dear, they''re off.  How long do you think we should give Genie before we begin her weapons training?"


    Hiroshi looked up from the papers he''d been studying.  The primary reason that he was only a minor partner in the bank was his need to spend most of his time on the King''s business.   "Hmmm.  I''d say at least six months.  Let''s hone her social skills first.  It''s likely that we''ll be using her almost exclusively for infiltration and observation, given her unusual talents as a mage.  When it does finally come time for weapon''s work, I think we should concentrate primarily on small, easily concealable ones, and those that can be disguised as part of her clothing or adornments."


    He stretched until you''d almost think that his joints would crack.  "But before that.... I think I''ll start her on the unarmed techniques immediately.  She was most attentive the one time she was present at one of my demonstrations, and it will be less difficult to ease her in by having her start with skills that she''s already interested in.


    "By the time I''ve finished with her, she''ll be lethal no matter if she''s in a formal gown or wearing nothing but her underwear. However, I suspect that it won''t ever be necessary for her to put such skills into practice.  If she''s an apt pupil, she''ll be able to accomplish her assignments without anyone, even someone in the same room, suspecting that it was she who was responsible."


    Blair nodded.  "That sounds good.  Let''s do it that way.  Then after a year we can reassess her progress."


    Hiroshi also nodded, then went back to perusing the map before him.  He had to get an agent to intercept a messenger on the Rennsteig Trail within the next four weeks, and it was going to be very hard to get his instructions to the agent before then without attracting unwanted attention.  One couldn''t push one''s horse at top speed to the center of the territories controlled by the Germanic princes and hope to be unnoticed.  It took time, and substantial fineness.  He also needed to get the forged message that the agent needed to exchange for the real one written and ready to go by morning.


    He sighed.  Such were the demands of his job.  One must dispense lies, deceptions, veiled threats, and half-truths judiciously.  Use them too much and they aroused suspicion or contempt.  Too little and wars could break out.  It was a tightrope that required exquisite timing and attention to detail.  Fortunately he found nothing else nearly as fulfilling.


    It was probably that which led him to organize his daily life according to a fairly rigid schedule.  There certainly wasn''t anything else he did that obeyed his commands.  Knowing that part of one''s life went according to plan kept him from total frustration..


    (I''m sure that those of you who read the supplementary handouts for this class noticed that what Miranda told Eugenia about Blair wasn''t the entire truth. While it was true that Blair was the King''s Spymaster, her role involved only the spies within the confines of Italy.  It was Hiroshi who was in charge of all operations elsewhere.  Each controlled about the same number of agents and each constantly prayed for more.  Unfortunately the number of potential candidates was limited.  But it had always been that way and probably would be for hundreds of years in the future, so neither of them let it bother them unduly no matter how frustrating it was.  For that matter, things are no different today.)

 Ch 14 - Twins Can Be Scary

    At Paolo''s and Sara''s homes, things proceeded with much less difficulty.  Sara''s younger sibs were obviously upset to see their beloved sister about to move away from home, but the eldest, Hibiki and Yoko, now budding 12 year olds, were more than pleased to be able to move into Sara''s old room, as it was much larger than the one they had been using.  Unlike their older sister, who could almost be a clone of their mother, they took after the Japanese side of the family.  They were only 145 cm tall and had long, straight, black hair and eyes that were such a dark brown that they seemed black in dim light.


    Blair had long known that the twins were unusually close, even for in The City, so giving them separate bedrooms was probably not a good idea.  Besides, if she had, the one who ended up in the smaller room would have complained for years.  They''d be able to move in within a week after the wedding.


    At the Donetti''s, one of the easiest things to accomplish, insofar as planning went, was converting Paolo''s room into a joint study for the couple and furnishing a spare room on the third floor as their bedroom.  That had required little time and was completed with several days to spare.


    Then all that was left was the waiting.


    --------------------


    June 28  The Year 721 After the Founding


    Time had passed, as it always does, both far too slowly and far too fast.  As was traditional, the wedding was attended only by close family members.  The bride was beautiful, the groom was nervous, and members of both families cried.  The reception took place later, at a large hall that could hold all those who were more distant relatives and those who, while not family, it was expedient to invite.


    The only thing that most guests remembered in the ensuing years was the amazing skills displayed by Sara and Eugenia during the dancing.  Sara had discovered that Eugenia was taking dancing lessons shortly after she had begun.  Soon thereafter she had joined in.  At first, her primary reason was so she could have some congenial company where she didn''t have to maintain the facade she presented at school.  Shortly thereafter they''d both discovered that they absolutely loved dance.  By the time of the wedding they''d been studying for six years.


    Except for their impromptu exhibition of dance, the reception followed the usual course.  The newlyweds were happy and were likely to forget most of what happened.  Their parents were happy that the children were safely married well before Sara became pregnant.


    (It should be noted that Sara was way ahead of the adults in that particular matter.  She''d had a stock of medication to prevent pregnancy on hand for a good six months just in case.)


    In the following weeks, there were several ugly rumors about the rushed planning of the wedding being due to Sara already being pregnant, but, as time passed and she showed no signs that she was expecting, those rumors disappeared and new rumors about other people took their place.


    Most everyone at the reception did nothing more strenuous than enjoy the party atmosphere, the free food and drink, and chatting about not much of significance.  In other words, they all had their guard down.  Thus it was that only Hibiki and Yoko noticed it, and it was that which they discussed once they got home and began to change out of their wedding finery.


    "Well, she seemed ta be trying, at least a little, not ta be noticed, but, I mean, really, it was so in your face."  Yoko dropped her hands from behind her neck.  "Biki, unbutton me, will ya?  Then I''ll do yours."


    Hibiki walked over and did as requested while saying,  "I know, I know.  She was way too obvious.  She was practically drooling over him.  If she had done that anywhere else, about a dozen people would have smacked her down!"


    Yoko drawled, "Sooo sister mine, what''re we gonna do about it?"


    "That is indeed the question is it not?  Our best bet will probably be to sneak up on him.  We do have a major advantage seeing as we are a ''we'' not a singleton.  On the minus side, she is going to have quite a few points with his parents what with getting admitted to Ingvold.  It IS the most prestigious school in The City."


    Hibiki tapped her cheek with her forefinger, in unconscious mimicry of Miranda with her fan.  "Or at least his mother will be so predisposed.  I do not  have any information on his father."  Hibiki began to fold her dress in preparation for putting it away.


    "Oh, don''t fold it, it''ll wrinkle.  Here, hold it up and I''ll get a hanger for it."  Yoko maneuvered the dress onto a hanger, and then put it on the hook on the inside of the door.  "Right then, let''s hang mine up too, then we can get back ta plotting."


    Biki smiled.  "I have  sounded out father on the matter."  Seeing Yoko start to frown she hurried to add, "Do not get your knickers in a knot.  What I did was ask him about what it was like back in Japan ''in the old days''.  That irritated him enough that he did not think much about why I had asked.  I have been trawling for information for over a month now, but I have limited it to one or two questions each time.


    "Lately I have been digging into the social structure of everyone involved.  It seems that Jason''s mother''s family were some sort of aristocrats.  Fortunately daddy''s position at the most highly regarded bank in town is acceptable to them, not to mention that there was some sort of tie between the families in the old country.


    "What may be a problem is Mother''s family.  Most of them have only been here for three generations on average, and they are from all over.  What Father had told me has confirmed that it is as we thought.  Jason''s mother is all about status, and Mother''s forebearers were ordinary people."


    Yoko held up a hand.  "Gimme me a sec.  I may have an idea, but I''ll have ta work on it for a while.  I''ll fill ya in after dinner.  In the meantime, let''s get changed and get our homework done.  I don''t want that hanging over us while we scheme."


    "Scheme?  Us?"


    "Ya know a better word for it?"


    Hibiki giggled.  "Nope.  It sounds about right."


    That set both of them laughing loudly enough that the maid passing their door could easily hear them.  As soon as she did, she hurried her pace.  She''d learned by the time the girls were eight that there were some things a person was better off not knowing.


    --------------------------


    Two weeks after the wedding, things finally calmed down enough that Miranda and Blair had caught up with the work they''d had to put aside while they prepared for the children to be married.  This day they were doing nothing more than having tea, chatting, and enjoying the company of a good friend of a like mind.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Blair stretched and yawned.  "You know Manda, I could really get used to this lazing about and not doing much of anything."


    Miranda snorted at her.  "Yeah, right.  And within two weeks, no, make that one, you''d be climbing the walls and complaining that you had nothing to do."


    She took a sip of her tea.  "You know, this is a truly excellent blend.  Where did you get it?"


    "Oh, I''m told that it came from Japan, or possibly somewhere in China.  The merchant wasn''t quite sure, as it was something she''d bought on speculation.  She said that if enough of her regulars like it she''ll make an effort to pinpoint its origin and secure a steady supply, possibly as soon as next year."


    She stretched again, then picked up her teacup and had another sip.  "It''s amazing that we''re able to sit here and drink something that came from such an incredible distance.  Can you imagine what it would be like if the Red Sea Straits weren''t there?  One would have to sail all the way around the Horn of Africa, or bring it overland.  Either way would be incredibly dangerous, not to mention how long it would take.


    "I suppose we should be grateful that that Chinese admiral, oh, what''s his name?  I always forget it.


    "It was Zheng He if I recaly correctly Blair."


    "Yes, yes, that''s right.  Zheng He.  If Zheng He hadn''t brought his fleet around to the Straits seventy years ago, we still might not be trading with the Orient like we are today.  And his ships!  My God!  The reports say that they were as much as 120 meters long.  Can you imagine something that big?  I mean, isn''t the biggest ship in the King''s navy less than half that size?"


    "Indeed Blair, it''s mind-boggling.  Still, I''m grateful that they met, and not solely for Chinese tea.  It it weren''t for him, Hiroshi''s parents would never have brought him here, he wouldn''t have married you, and I''d probably never have met my best friend."


    They lapsed into a comfortable silence for several minutes, then Miranda took a deep breath and sat up straight.  Her change in posture caught Blair''s attention immediately.  Obviously something was up.


    Seeing Blair''s piercing look, Miranda hastened to reassure her, "No, no, it''s not work related, fortunately.  I''ve already told you all about what''s going on in that arena.  It''s just....well, something, shall we say interesting has come up, or rather looks like it will come up in a year or two or three."


    "Hmmm.... That sounds intriguing.  Go on."


    "It happened at the wedding reception.  It''s unlikely that you saw it since you were standing to my left, but your twins were behind one of the buffet tables off to my right.  They looked somewhat bored since the exciting part was over and, as far as they were concerned, people were standing around doing nothing."


    She grinned.  "That''s exactly the way I felt at that age when I was at receptions, though they were doing a much better job of concealing their feelings than I did."


    Blair snickered then said, "From what I saw of you in your late teens, I suspect that you''re understating your reaction, though I must admit that similar thoughts crossed my mind from time to time at receptions.  But I''m sure that isn''t what you were going to tell me."


    "No, you''re right.  What got my attention was that something seemed to draw their full attention all of a sudden.  It had to be significant, at least to them, because they stopped looking around to see if anyone was watching them.  Then they moved so their heads were almost touching."


    "Ah ha.  Speaking ''twin''.  Not normally good manners in public.  I''ll have to talk to them about that.  Again."


    "Actually Blair, you''d best not say anything, at least not immediately, given that the person who had their attention was Jason Fukui, or, to be more precise, the person talking to him."


    Blair leaned forward.  "You have that evil look in your eye Manda.  Who was it who was talking to Jason?"


    Miranda fanned herself.  "What?  Me?  I never get an evil look.  You''re imagining things.  Maybe there''s something in the tea that''s making you delusional."  Miranda arched an eyebrow at Blair, who arched right back.  Shortly thereafter both of them broke down laughing.


    Once they''d had time to recover, Blair, who was still leaning forward and chortling a bit, waved a hand at Miranda.  "All right, give.  What girl was getting mental daggers hurled at her by Hibiki and Yoko?"


    Miranda leaned back and tapped the now folded fan on her cheek.  "I wonder what you''d say if I told you that it was Eugenia?"


    "Oh no!  Really?  Well, well.  Then I think you''re spot on with your assessment.  It looks like things are going to be interesting for the next few years."


    Blair paused to gather her thoughts.  "You know, I''ve not thought about things in that way for the twins yet.  They are only 12.  But since you brought it up....


    "Knowing Jason and, especially, his mother, it may well be that the twins...."


    Seeing Miranda''s expression, Blair hastened to add, "Or Eugenia, might be the only women in The City capable of keeping up with him.  That boy is special.  The twins have told me enough about him that it''s clear that he doesn''t think like most other people."


    "Really?  I know that his mother''s family came from Japan a generation before your Hiroshi''s did and Jason''s grandfather''s about the same time, though not together with hers.  But Jason himself?  I don''t  have any information on him at all."


    "What?  There''s something going on in The City that I know and you don''t?  You must be slipping girl!"


    "I''ll let that absurd comment slide, unless you want me to remind you of the intel Mario brought me about that sour trade deal in Venice that you hadn''t heard about."


    Blair had been in the midst of taking a sip of tea while holding an expression of superiority on her face, but Miranda''s comment destroyed that, and Blair''s sip turned into a sputter as the tea tried to go down the wrong way.


    Miranda smiled at her.  "Even?"


    "Yes, even."


    "So, what''s the story on Jason?"


    "Well Manda, it seems that he mostly thinks about numbers.  Not simple things like ordinary arithmetic, but....  Frankly I''m not really sure.  Yoko seems to understand, at least partially, but Hibiki''s eyes glaze over when Yoko talks about it.


    "It''s probably because of their personalities.  Yoko is about as fascinated with history as Jason''s mother, and she''s a full professor at Ingvold.  Now Biki, she''s happiest when she''s around younger children, which is surprising given how much she takes after Hiroshi.  Even though she''s dedicated to her calligraphy and tea ceremony, she loves karate.  In that she''s much like Eugenia seems to be.  What''s really surprising is that, given Yoko''s tendency to want to be active all the time, she adores children too and can sit patiently with them for an hour or more, at least occasionally, and if Biki is there too.


    She took another sip of her tea, more carefully this time.  "It''s interesting that Jason also is learning karate.  He''s been taking classes from Hiroshi for two years now.  His interest isn''t nearly as intense as Hibiki''s and Eugenia''s, but he does seem to be serious.


    "Bah, I''m rambling.  I must be more tired than I thought.    What''s important is that Hibiki tells me that once in a while Jason will stop right in the middle of practice.  When he does, he''ll run over to his things, pull out a pencil and paper, and start writing.  As I said, she doesn''t understand the numbers, but he''s told her that he''s trying to figure out what he calls ''the forces involved'' when people are spinning around, and balancing on one foot, and things like that."


    Miranda took a sip of her tea.  "I have no idea what that means either, but there''s something my magery instructor told me.  He said, ''You listen up girl and you listen well!  When you''ve finished your training with me, don''t go thinking that you know everything or that you''ll EVER know everything there is to know about magic.  Someday somebody who seems like nothing so much as an idiot dreamer will figure out something so important that it will change things forever.   That goes for engineering too and even carpentry.  And don''t go asking me what those new things will be.  If I knew, they wouldn''t be new, now would they?''


    "He really put me in my place, and he was right.  So, who knows, maybe Jason is one of those dreamers who''s going to come up with something extremely useful one of these days."


    She stretched then scratched an annoying itch on her arm.  "Hah!  Look at me.  He''s only 11 years old and I''m talking about his future as if I knew something about it.  If he heard me, my teacher would trot across town and kick my ass up between my ears."


    "Mmmm.  I''ll pretend I didn''t hear you say that Manda, but only if you teach me some of those foreign cuss words you use.  I may need to spring something new on Hiroshi one of these days.  I don''t want him getting bored with me."


    That brought on another mutual laughing spell, after which they moved on to other, seemingly more important topics.

 Ch 15

    As she progressed the newlyweds'' training, Miranda found that Sara had a particularly interesting skill.  She couldn''t manage Eugenia''s invisibility or silence, but while trying to see if such could  be taught, something similar and potentially even more useful emerged.


    Sara was able to become totally unremarkable.  People saw her, they moved around her if they were about to run into each other, but they paid no attention to her at all otherwise.


    For Genie''s talents to be of use, she had to invoke her spell when she was some distance away from her target location and then sneak in.  It was extremely useful if she were not otherwise able to be where she wanted to go, such as a military installation or a palace.


    Sara, on the other hand, could enter anywhere that one of her class might frequent or be invited.  As the wife of a priest, and the daughter of a prominent banker, that was a great many places indeed.  Once inside she could invoke her talent and move around at will, listening to any conversation she wished without being noticed.  When she was finished, all she had to do was return to a public area and gradually let her spell fade.  Nobody would ever know that she''d left the room.


    The only restriction was that she had to be somewhere she would be welcome, or at least generally tolerated.  If she were somewhere inappropriate, such as the guard barracks, she was always spotted in short order.


    Paolo''s strongest skill was of a different nature altogether.  He''d touched on the edges of it in his childhood.  He''d learned a great deal by listening.  Now that he was undergoing training to be a priest at the Church of the Placid Heart, he found that total strangers would come up to him and empty their hearts to him.  Priests were not gossips who betrayed confidences heard in the private consultation rooms.  However, anything he overheard elsewhere was fair game.  Sometimes what he heard was of use to his mother, and he passed that along.  However, in the beginning, that was haphazard.  Fortunately that didn''t remain the case for very long.


    His primary mage talent was discovered as a result of all that listening.  If he focused his mind, he could hear, clearly, any conversation taking place within approximately 10 meters of him, no matter how crowded or loud the area was.  That allowed him to seemingly have all his attention on whoever was speaking to him, while he was at the same time taking in everything his target was saying.


    Given Sara''s long practice at getting along at school, their social status, and Paolo''s ability to match his speech and behavior to that of any social class, there was hardly anywhere in the entire city they couldn''t go.  The one exception was the gambling halls.  As a matter of principle, Priests didn''t go to such establishments.  Brothels, yes, more often than you might imagine, though not for the normal reason.  In a brothel, the residents knew that they needed priestly help now and then.  Gamblers usually don''t realize that they need help at all.


    One of the most effective techniques they developed was to have Paolo begin a conversation with a group and, after a brief chat, wander off.  Sara would stay behind to hear what was said after Paolo left.  It''s amazing what people will sometimes say after you leave, especially if you''ve dropped a few subtle hints prodding them to talk about what you''re interested in.


    ------------------


    Thereafter life settled into regular patterns, as it usually does.  Eugenia was studying her head off, trying not to disappoint Blair and, most especially, her mother.  At least twice a week she was studying karate, something that Mr. Macklin said he had learned during the seven years his family had lived on an island called Okinawa when he was still a child.  What did she think of it, you ask?  She absolutely adored it!


    Its combination of precision with mental focus appealed to her in a strange way that nothing else other than dancing had ever done.  She''d been promised that if she did well, both with her karate and her studies, Master Hiroshi (which he preferred to be called when teaching) would introduce her to something called kobudou before the end of the year.  When he demonstrated some basic techniques for her, she almost swooned with excitement.


    Motivation is a wonderful thing.  Within six weeks her academic standing had risen to where she was solidly in the middle of her class, exactly where her mother and Blair wanted her.  Genie never told her mother, but she was finding school almost intoxicating.  Learning how tiny, apparently insignficant, actions had spawned major changes in the nations and confederations surrounding Italy, and in Italy as well, totally fascinated her.


    At the same time, she was beginning to come to see at least a little bit of what she was being trained for.  Blair intended her to be, for lack of a better word, a nudger.  Someone who helped make sure that those "tiny" events had results favorable to stability in the region instead of leading to local or, gods forbid, regional wars.


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    As for Paolo and Sara, they''d easily fallen into their new roles.  He found that he loved helping other people solve problems.  Sometimes, of course, he couldn''t.  But even then the people who came to him were grateful for his compassionate listening.  Oft times being able to calm down by sitting with Paolo for a while helped them arrive at a solution to their troubles by themselves.


    Sara did what she''d always done best.  She was a friend.  Within less than three months she was meeting regularly with several groups of immigrant women and children whose only needs were friends who could ease their transition into the hodgepodge culture of The City.  It doesn''t sound like a big thing, but, as was planned for Genie''s nudges in the political arena, her nudges in the social fabric of The City did a great deal to relieve tensions among a population composed of people from two continents and dozens of disparate cultures.


    --------------------------


    One night Sara and Paolo were in bed, and, as they usually did, they were reviewing their day before they fell asleep.  They were on their sides facing each other, and Sara reached out her right hand to stroke Paolo''s cheek.  "You know dearest something happened today that I''ve never thought much about before."


    Paolo took her palm off his cheek, brought it to his lips and kissed it.  "What''s that my love?"


    "Stop that, it tickles.  I can''t concentrate."


    Paolo let go of her hand and focused his attention on her words, at least for the present.


    "I was at a market square, you know, the one they call the Twin''s Market.  A woman was talking to one of the vendors.  She asked him, ''How are your wives?'' and he answered her, ''Just fine, just fine.  Grace is expecting somewhere around October and Momo has finally weaned the twins, so we''re all sleeping better at night.  How are your husbands?''"


    Sara made an unpleasant face.  "The way one of the women passing by looked at them would probably have shriveled them on the spot if she''d had any power.  I don''t understand why she was so angry.  It''s not like they have any choice."


    Paolo nodded.  "You''re right of course.  What else can they do?  You''d think that woman would have known better.  I mean everyone knows what happens to twins if they''re separated too far for too long....


    "Hmmmm.  Maybe that''s the problem.  Everyone knows that, even most of the foreigners who moved here or come to do business, but maybe they don''t know everything.  To be fair, it wasn''t till I was about nine or 10 that I understood that some twins get physically ill if they don''t at least sleep in the same house every night.  I''ve heard that some even need to be in the same room."


    He shook his head.  "That must be pretty rough when they''re adults."


    Paolo felt lucky that it was dark enough that Sara couldn''t see him blush as he said, "The day I proposed to you, I was only barely able to keep myself from asking if we could bring you home with us, so I think I sort of understand a little of how those twins feel."


    Sara chuckled.  "You silly boy, but, thank you for that.  I didn''t want to be separated from you either."  She leaned forward and kissed his forehead, reasoning that if she did more than that they''d lose track of what they were talking about.


    "So, go on Dear, tell me the rest."


    "Right. OK.  Well, that''s really about it.  I mean if you have to live in the same house as your twin, especially if you have to be in the same room at night, what else can you do?  If it took me till I was 10 to realize that, for some twins, their only choice is to marry the same person, what would strangers think if they didn''t know that?"


    Sara nodded, though it was now dark enough that Paolo couldn''t see her.  "You''re right.  That makes sense."


    She sighed, somewhat sadly.


    Paolo asked, "What is it Love?"


    She whispered, now half asleep, "It''s Hibiki and Yoko.  They may be one of those sets of twins.  Yoko had a sleepover with a friend from school for the first time last week.  When she came home the next morning, she was sick, and so was Hibiki.  I thought that maybe they''d eaten something weird, but I heard that both of them were fine after they took a nap together."


    Paolo stretched and yawned.  "When I was studying for the City Exams I chanced across a law that said that here was the only place in Italy where it was allowed to marry more than one person, and it stipulates that it must be twins, and not two random people you''ve taken a fancy to.


    "A couple months ago I decided to look up what it said in the Church Law, but basically all it says there is that if people are in love, go ahead and marry them.  The only prohibitions are against coercion.  Well, that and the minimum age requirements.


    "We''re probably not going to have to worry about that with your sibs for some years yet, and maybe never.  A certain meddling someone seems to keep things from getting too extreme, or at least that''s what I think, since it never happens to fraternal twins and triplets aren''t born here.  Speaking of which, or who, I wonder how the whole thing of twins marrying the same person got started in the first place."


    Sara nodded again.  "Yeah. Me too.  It would be fascinating if we could find out how it happened."


    Paolo laughed.  "You''re a knowledge pack-rat.  If it can be learned, you want to know it."


    He laughed louder.  "Not that I''m much better."


    "So that''s how it is, is it?  You both want to know about it?  Well, I see no harm, and perhaps a great deal of good resulting if I tell you.   If I do it right, I can finish before you have to get up in the morning, and I ALWAYS do it right.  So let''s go."


    Before either of them could react to Lady Blue''s words they....

 Ch 16 - Lily and Johann (part 1)

    The Year 50 After The Founding


    Damn! For some reason I had a rather nasty headache. I lifted my head and looked around. Something was seriously wrong, but I had no idea what it was. Surprisingly the headache faded as my frustration grew.


    The problem was, no matter how hard I tried to figure it out, each time I almost had it, the answer kept slipping out of my head, and I was left with a feeling of stupefied irritation.


    There were several things that I was certain of, however.


    I knew that I''d been out all evening and that it was now after midnight.


    I also knew that my parents would flay me when they found out what time I''d gotten home, not that I had yet -- gotten home that is.


    There was also one other tiny problem. I had no idea where I was.


    No, I don''t mean that I was in a part of town that I was unfamiliar with. What I DO mean is that I was unsure as to what country -- no, that''s not right -- I was unsure as to what world I was on. Or perhaps "in" would be a better choice.


    It was a moonless dark, but most of the details of the building behind my "companions" were surprisingly clear. It seemed to be some sort of stone cathedral but it was definitely smaller than I remembered from history class. You know, medieval style but no flying buttresses, yet still seemingly way too tall to be standing.


    Oddly enough, each of the people standing near me were more brightly lit than the rest of my surroundings. No, they weren''t glowing or anything like that. It was more like they''d brought little patches of near daylight with them that illuminated their bodies and the area about a meter in radius around them. All of them were facing, at least mostly, toward me.


    To my far right was a male, fairly tall and slim. Shaggy blond hair, but only a little past his ears. He was dressed in a sort of medieval style outfit. You know the kind. Tight pants, calf-high boots. White shirt with a daggered front open down to just below his breastbone.


    To my near right, were two people. I assumed that they were related from how they were sitting cuddled up next to each other and looking down at a book that the girl had open in her lap. For some reason I couldn''t see what the boy was wearing, but the girl was wearing an ankle length white skirt with a three or four centimeter purple trim around the bottom.


    Moving along, to my immediate left was another girl, probably a few years older than I was, maybe about 20 or so. She had raven-black hair that fell down to mid-breast. Her bangs were cut straight across the middle of her forehead. Her skin color was quite a contrast, as it was remarkably pale.


    She was looking at the other three with a faint smile and an expression that could only be called "tolerant." Her clothes were a mirror of Boy A''s, except that her shirt was buttoned all the way up.


    Finally, to my far left, was another girl. Her hair was a medium blonde, but her skin was about the color of the outside of a light-colored coconut. The contrast was striking and rather lovely. She was wearing some sort of blouse and skirt combination that you''d probably call middle to upper-class merchant type clothing. She was also wearing boots like Boy A rather than the slippers or soft shoes a woman would usually wear, though hers only reached to just abover her ankles.


    Oh, I forgot one thing. Probably fairly important. None of them were moving -- at all. I moved closer and discovered that they didn''t seem to be breathing either.


    I found myself walking up to Girl C (the one on the far left) and extending my hand. As I did so, she slowly swiveled her head and looked up at me with an incurious expression. Then she looked at my hand. After a few seconds she took it and stood up.


    She managed to surprise me -- the first true emotion that I''d felt since this all started -- when, after she took my hand, she stepped around so she was facing the same way I was, and then, briefly, laid the side of her head on my arm.


    I was again surprised when I realized that either she was quite small or I was unusually tall, seeing as the top of her head was about seven centimeters below my shoulder. I was also startled to see that the lighting on her had changed. Now she was in the same level of light, or dark, as I was.


    When I''d finished absorbing that, I found that we were no longer facing the cathedral but rather the square it fronted on. Well, it was square, but it wasn''t like any square I''d ever seen or heard of before. It extended at least 100 meters away, probably more as the far side was lost in the darkness.


    Suddenly I wasn''t paying much attention to the details of the architecture of this odd place. My attention was drawn instead to the people in the square. They were exclusively male. All of them were tall and had haircuts similar to Boy A. Every one was of medium build and, more importantly, all of them exuded an air of: "This is our place. You don''t belong here."


    They were all dressed in close-fitting, but not tight, dark colored...something. Many of them wore tops, and a few even pants, that glittered in the light as if they were made of reflective, diamond-shaped scales about a half inch or so across.


    Most had no visible weapons, but after looking at their faces, I got a strong impression that they wouldn''t need any if they decided to fight someone.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.I was about to freak-out -- calmly -- it seemed that all my emotions were muted. It was like there was some sort of blanket over me that dulled that part of the mind. Before I could get to the actual freak-out stage, my heretofore passive companion tugged on my arm and turned me down a side street.


    As we walked along, she suddenly bombarded me with enthusiastic chatter. "Well, how about that. I never knew that they had such cute shops open during the festival. We really should have done this earlier." She swiveled her head, taking in the sights and then stepped even closer to me than before, essentially gluing herself to my side.


    "Or perhaps not," she murmured.


    Given her action, I looked around quickly and, sure enough, about a third of the buildings had lighted cases or tables in the front of them, complete with sales staff - most of them female and cute. One even appeared to have cat ears.


    If I had to relate it to something, it would be like the street-sellers in Japan who lay down blankets on the wider sidewalks and hawk their wares. Nothing particularly expensive, but all were reasonably well made and attractive. Just right to buy for your girlfriend as a gift to show that you care but without worrying about emptying your wallet.


    All of the customers seemed to be male or, rather, every single person on the street aside from the salespeople was male. That explained my companion''s apprehension and heightened mine.


    It appeared that we were being consciously ignored, just as most people would ignore a gothic loli who showed up at a classical music concert. She would be tolerated but the general attitude would be the same: "You don''t belong here."


    "Johann, let''s go home." My companion tugged on my arm and we headed down the street at a brisk walk. If anything, it was the pace used by someone who had remembered an urgent matter that needed to be attended to. Definitely not fast enough to be considered running away, I hoped.


    It was then that I realized that my dignity was important to me. Not nearly as important as my life or my wife beside me, but definitely important.


    Wait a second, my wife?! What in holy heck was going on? I stumbled a bit since I''d totally stopped paying attention to my surroundings, but Lily steadied me and forged ahead.


    I knew that I was 17. Even allowing for how small people often look younger than they really are, my companion (my wife?) couldn''t be more than 13 or 14, could she?


    Still, at least that was one worry off my shoulders. If I was married, my parents, probably, wouldn''t say anything about me being out so late at night.


    That still left a sheaf of questions like: Who was I? Why was I was married? How did I know my "wife''s" name? Who were my parents? And, most important of all, where in heck was I?! As we got closer to "home" we unconsciously matched our paces to each other and were managing a rather sedate walk by the time we entered our neighborhood.


    Lily gave my arm another squeeze and began to speak about what was, to her at least, a topic that we''d started a while back.


    "So my mother is still after me about when we''re going to be presenting her with grandchildren. Can you believe it? I only started having my monthly four moons after we got married last year and she''s already nagging me. Somehow it didn''t penetrate that I''m still only 15 years old.


    "If it weren''t for that new class at school discussing the changes at puberty, I might have been tempted to go along with her. Now that I know that having a child before 18 or 19 is really hard on your body, I''m in no hurry. When I told her that, she got rather huffy, but she calmed down right away when I asked her how many of HER friends had died in childbirth or had children who died before they were a year old."


    She smiled up at me. "Fortunately there are advantages to being an herbalist. I have that medicine that can keep me from getting pregnant, though it does make me a bit sleepy on the days I take it. At any rate, we can practice all we want without worrying about something like that happening to me."


    That statement was followed by a throaty chuckle. Then she purred, "And I find that I quite enjoy the practicing. If we do it often enough, when we''re ready to have children, we should have figured out how to do it right."


    I glanced nervously about. That was something that one really shouldn''t be talking about in public. Of course the streets were completely empty, given the late (or early) hour, but you could never be certain.


    Lily laughed at me happily and cuddled my arm again. I was fairly sure that nobody who was up and happened to glance out their window at us would be able to see how much I was blushing.


    We arrived at our cottage and walked in. Apparently one didn''t lock one''s door here when one went out, though I did notice two substantial bolts on the inside of the door.


    "Johann, I am fairly tired, but I''m much too excited to sleep right away, so I think that right now would be a good time to practice."


    She swooshed her way up the stairs, and, after a quick check to make sure that there was nothing downstairs that needed doing, other than latching the door, I followed her.


    By the time I found and entered our bedroom, all her clothes were on the floor. She twirled for me. "Do you think I''m still growing?"


    I looked her over carefully and thoroughly. She was definitely still filling out. Hah! She was nothing at all like the stringbean tomboy I''d grown up and fallen in love with.


    She was suddenly totally serious and sounded worried for me, "Johann, what''s wrong, is your head hurting again?"


    I straightened up and rubbed my temples. There''d been something that was not right, something about when I tried to remember us growing up together, but it was gone now. The pain disappeared at the same time.


    "No sweetheart, I''m fine. And you are too. You''re definitely ''shaping up'' in the best possible way. Seeing as how other girls take several years to, ah, settle into their final shapes, you probably have a ways to go too, though you probably won''t be as full-figured as Raven."


    She fake pouted. "And what were you doing watching other girls develop, you cad!" Then she laughed again and twirled for me one more time.


    "Why do you still have your clothes on? Hurry up!"


    It didn''t take me long to shuck off my shirt and trousers and lay them carefully on the chair by the bed, in a silent rebuke to her for leaving her clothes in a pile on the floor.


    Not that she seemed to notice. When I turned around I barely had enough time to catch her at the end of her leap. As usual, she settled with her legs wrapped around my waist and with my hands cupping her cheeks to keep her from falling. Said cheeks were soft and intensely stimulating.


    Not for the first time I thought to myself that having a small woman as a wife had some interesting, and pleasant, compensations. My ruminations were interrupted by her tongue demanding entry, and my thoughts disappeared.


    We''d started practicing kissing each other when she was nine, and since then she had become what I considered superb, or perhaps better than that. I didn''t have anyone to compare her to, but I was quite certain that if there were an Olympic event for kissing, she''d be right up there at the top.


    Once she was certain that she had my full attention, she leaned backwards and, well, what happened after that is none of your business, so butt out and don''t ask about it later, OK?

 Ch 17 - Lily and Johann (part 2)

    When Lily was asleep and cuddled up to my chest, I was still wide awake and staring at the ceiling.  My mind drifted off to the first time we''d kissed, and before I noticed it, I too was asleep and dreaming of that day.


    As I told you before, we''d been pretty much inseparable playmates since she''d somehow attached herself to me when she was six.  (Oh, I didn''t?  Well I just did, so there.)  I''m not sure how it happened, but one day I noticed that we''d been together every day for the past few months.


    To tell the truth, I probably wouldn''t have noticed it at all, or at least for a long time, if Lily hadn''t come down with a cold or something.


    I guess you could say that I was rather slow about such things, but it took me three or four days to realize that I was irritable and getting more so day by day.  It wasn''t me, but my mother, who finally decided that she''d had enough of my moping around and snapped.


    "Johann Ludwig Kastner!  Will you stop it!?  I can''t stand your mooning around like a calf that''s lost its mother.  Get yourself over to Lily''s house and see her for God''s sake!


    "If you can''t do that, at least get yourself out of the house.  I''m going to go crazy if I have to put up with you any longer.  Now, SHOO!"


    With that she practically threw me out of the house.   Seeing as I was a man of eight years, I bitterly resented being summarily ejected from my home, and by my mother no less.  What if one of my friends had seen or heard it?


    I looked around quickly, but I was in luck.  Nobody was nearby.  Good.  So I wandered off, with my dignity fairly intact. (Yes, that meant something to me even at that early age.)  I kept walking, thinking of not much of anything other than my resentment of my mother thinking that I could have any interest in a girl.  For Christ''s sake!  No self-respecting male of my age would have anything to do with one of THEM.  Even if, for argument''s sake, I admitted to having an interest in them -- if only to myself -- I''d never let my friends know about it.  They''d laugh their heads off at me.


    I mean, that would be totally undignified.  As I was nodding my head to myself, having solved that particular dilemma, I looked around to see where I was.  Heavy thinking like I''d just done tended to leave such unimportant particulars as one''s location out of one''s consciousness.  To my surprise, shock, and, I scarce dare admit it, my pleasure, I found myself standing in front of Lily''s house.


    I stood there, pulled in two directions.  I wanted to flee as quickly as possible, in case someone should see me there, but I also wanted to go inside and see Lily.


    That problem was solved by Lily''s mother who was ambling up the street, having completed her morning shopping.


    "Johann!  How wonderful.  Lily has been so lonely without you.  Please.  Come inside.  She''s well enough for visitors now, and seeing you will likely help her to get moving again.  She''s been feeling far too sorry for herself the past day or so."


    What could I do?  If I begged off, word would somehow get back to my mother within moments via that strange, almost telepathic, communication system that mothers use with each other.   When she found out that I''d refused to go in, I''d be in for at least a 30 minute lecture on proper behavior and how one should be polite to one''s elders.  Then there''d be another 15 minutes about how I should have helped Lily''s mother carry in her groceries.


    So, that being the case, I reluctantly (or at least so I convinced myself) relieved Lily''s mother of the groceries and carried them inside for her.


    "Thank you Johann.  Now, why don''t you run upstairs and see Lily.  The two of you can come down and have some tea after a while, and you can tell me how things have been going at your father''s shop.  I''ve been tied down here most of the time since Lily got sick and I''ve missed out on all the recent gossip."


    I went up the stairs, briskly I might add.  Sullen trudging up the stairs is to be saved for when one''s parents can see it.


    (No, of course it wasn''t because I was hurrying to see Lily.  What an odd being you are.  Whoever you are.  Speaking of which...oh?  It doesn''t matter right now?  All right.  If you say so.)


    Where was I?  Oh yes. I hurried into Lily''s room.  She was lying on her bed staring up at the ceiling, or at nothing.  I couldn''t tell for sure.   When she heard the door open, she slowly turned her head toward me.  The next thing I knew there was a small, warm body in my arms with its legs wrapped around my waist and its arms around my neck.  (Yes, that started early, didn''t it?)


    She was nuzzling my neck and repeating my name over and over.  I was totally shocked, extraordinarily embarrassed, and yet, somehow, I was suddenly more happy than I''d been in the past, well, forever if I have to be truthful about it.


    It wasn''t until I heard Lily''s mother calling us down to tea that I realized that I had no idea how long I''d been standing there.  As I came to my senses, I found that my arms were wrapped around Lily too, and I realized that something odd was happening.  Lily was purring like a cat.


    "Ah, Lily, your mother is calling us.  We''d best go downstairs."


    Lily leaned back and studied my face, looking for what I had no idea, then she put on a thoughtful look.  "Yeah, you''re right Johann.  I guess we should.


    "Carry me down.  I''m still a bit weak from my cold."


    I was quite sure that she was lying.  She''d leapt out of bed and launched herself at me so fast that I''d barely seen her coming.  That doesn''t sound like a sick person, does it?


    Still, she had been ill, and she was such a small thing, and maybe she was still a bit under the weather, so I decided that carrying her would be rather gentlemanly.  So that''s what I did.


    As we descended the stairs and came into sight of the kitchen, I noticed that Lily''s mother suddenly covered her mouth with her hand and spun around with her back to us.  Probably so she could grab the teapot which was whistling merrily.


    (Rachel was, of course, doing her best not to laugh.  "Like mother like daughter," though in this case it was "like grandmother like granddaughter."  Lily was behaving exactly as her grandmother Carline did frequently with Alphonse when she thought nobody was watching, and the similarity had Rachel almost rolling on the floor.).


    I deposited Lily gently into her usual place and took the stool that the family reserved for casual guests who didn''t rate a more comfortable chair.  While I was inhaling the fragrant steam from the tea -- Lily''s mother was a locally famous herbalist and her teas were exquisite -- I noticed that Lily and her mother seemed to be having a rather animated conversation.


    I say "seemed" because neither of them was saying anything, at least not that I could hear.  They were however staring intently at each other and the expressions on their faces were changing by the moment.  They were also making tiny gestures with their hands that made me think of punctuation.  You know, like question marks, exclamation marks, things like that.


    I slurped at my tea noisily, and they both turned to look at me.  It isn''t likely that the innocent expression on my face fooled either of them, but they did start speaking with words from that point on, though their conversation revolved around herbs, goings on in town, and who was doing what with and to whom.


    Exactly.  These were all things that I had no interest in.  I excused myself, probably as per their plan, and headed back home.  Besides, I had a lot to think about.  In particular one thought had popped into my head that was both startling and puzzling.  I''d worried earlier about my friends teasing me if they found out that I''d been spending time with Lily.  After hitting myself rather firmly in the head, I got my brain turned on and rebooted my memory.


    Playing back what I could remember, and counting from the summer fair, I realized that Lily and I had been together, every day without fail, for exactly 68 days.  My first reaction was one of terror.  My friends were going to have a field day teasing me about it.  Then I realized something important.  If Lily and I had been together for 68 days, and I was sure of my counting, my friends couldn''t have helped but notice a long time ago.


    They hadn''t teased me about it, even once.  What was going on?


    I dredged through my memory to pull up what images I could of the times I''d seen them recently and was once again shocked.


    They had noticed, and they''d obviously been talking about us.  The expressions on their faces though....  That''s what floored me.


    They weren''t expressions of amusement or ridicule.  They were expressions of envy.


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    Now I really didn''t know what to do.  I''d been prepared, sort of, for teasing, but not this.  I had not the slightest idea of what to do, so I decided to do nothing.  After all, pretending not to notice what others thought of you was a primary part of maintaining one''s dignity...at least that''s what I believed at eight years old.


    When I got home, my mother was in a much better mood.  She  smiled at me and asked the usual silly questions about how Lily was doing and how her mother was.  Once that was over with, I went up to my room to study.  We didn''t have such a thing as a school in our town then, that started about four years later, but children were expected and required to spend time studying every day, except for Sunday, when we all trooped over to the Church of Miracles for services.


    (It seemed to me to be gigantic when I was a child, but, as I became more traveled, I realized that it was nothing more than a moderate size church.  The City''s first true cathedral was completed 32 years later in 73 AF.)


    ------------------------------


    Life proceeded as life does, and it seemed like only a few weeks had passed, but I''d somehow become 11 and Lily was now nine.


    It was the day before I was to begin my apprenticeship in my father''s woodworking business, and Lily and I had slipped away to swim before I had no more time for such a frivolous thing.


    The air was already cooler, it being late September, but we headed down to our "special" place -- about two hundred yards south of where the water from the hot spring in the center of town merged into the river.  There was a goodly sized grove of weeping willow trees at the bend there, and their branches hung down till they almost touched the water.  I guess they really liked the warmth, because there were dozens of trees right on and near the banks.  They were close enough together that if you were outside the grove, you couldn''t see even 10 feet inside it.


    We''d strolled sedately along the path next to the river until we were well inside the grove.  Then we ran, shrieking with pleasure, to the bank of the river and pulled off our clothes.


    Some things never change.  I folded mine neatly and placed them on a low hanging branch.  Lily threw hers every which way and was already splashing in the water as I approached the bank.  Once I''d waded, sedately, into the water, I reverted to being a child and splashed around with as much abandon as Lily did.


    Later, after we''d tired ourselves out, I was lying on the grass on the bank, and Lily, as usual, was lying several feet above me on a wide branch of the solitary oak tree that grew in the grove.  Neither of us spoke for quite a while.  We were just enjoying each other''s company.


    I must have dozed off, as I suddenly started awake when something landed on my face.  I opened my eyes and saw Lily smiling down at me.


    "Johann, I have a favor to ask you.  I want you to kiss me."


    I sat bolt upright.  "What?!  What are you talking about all of a sudden?  What''s with you?"


    Yes, I was embarrassed.  I was 11, so of course I''d imagined kissing girls, but always older ones who were already, ah, developed, if you know what I mean.  I''d never thought of kissing Lily.  She was tiny and definitely on the skinny side.  Looking up at her I studied her for the first time.  No, she wasn''t showing even a slight indication of any developing -- not that you''d expect it at her age.


    She was studying me too, but I don''t think in the same way I was looking at her.  For one thing, she was looking only at my face.


    "Johann. I''m not teasing you.  It''s not going to be all that long before I''m 12, and then my parents are going to start looking for someone to marry me off to."


    Marriage!  Lily?  She had to be kidding, didn''t she?  I did the math in my head, and it was an easy sum.  She was right.  She was almost 10 now.  Parents usually did start looking for husbands when the girl reached 12 though they usually held off on the marriage itself till they were 14.  Where had the time gone, and, more importantly, why was my chest aching?


    Lily continued as if I''d not reacted, "They''ll probably find someone older who''s lost his wife.  You may not know this, but we women all do.  At least a tenth of wives die in childbirth or shortly thereafter, so there''s no lack of older men wanting someone younger as a partner, especially if they don''t have any living children."


    Childbirth.  Die!   I looked more carefully at Lily.  She was uncommonly tiny, and her hips were almost hopelessly narrow.  You didn''t have to be a genius to realize that if she were to become pregnant as soon as she was fertile, she was highly likely to be one of those who died.  My expression was probably a mirror of hers, and she looked so sad that I almost burst into tears.


    "So Johann, I want you to kiss me.  I want to be able to remember that at least the first person I kissed was someone I truly loved."


    The meaning of her words didn''t completely penetrate right away, but I got the gist.  I had a choice to make, and it was one that someone my age shouldn''t have to.  It wasn''t fair!   One choice led to the usual way of growing up, full of laughing with friends, flirting with girls when we got older, and slowly growing into adulthood.


    The other choice had a price, and that price was giving up everything that would have happened if I''d chosen the first path.  I was being asked to make a commitment, and I DID NOT WANT TO!  I wanted to be free to stay a child as long as I could.  I didn''t WANT to shoulder responsibilities any sooner than I had to.


    That was when Lily''s words finally penetrated my brain, and I truly understood the situation.  My first choice involved exactly what I had said it would, which included flirting with girls.  That was the kicker.  Most girls wanted to flirt and, eventually, get married to whoever their parents chose for them, preferably someone rich and handsome.  No need for love.  Position was what mattered.


    Lily had said that she loved me.  Almost nobody had the chance to marry for love in our society.  Oh, sure, some couples eventually came to love each other, but it was not even close to a majority.  Most people lived out their lives with someone who was, at best, something of a friend, much like an old, comfortable slipper, but nothing more than that.   So I had a choice, but it wasn''t much of one.  My parents, and Lily''s now that I thought of it, obviously did love each other.  They were definitely happier than most of the other couples in town.


    Besides, the thought of Lily with someone other than me was already tearing me apart.  Who knew how I''d feel if I  had to watch her marry another man.


    I stood and held out my arms.  "Come on then.  Give me your first kiss, and all of the others for the rest of our lives."


    The look on Lily''s face probably could best be described as "triumphant."  I didn''t have time to think about it, (somehow I rarely had time to think about things with her around) as she jumped into my arms.  As she had when she was six, she had her legs wrapped around my waist, only this time she wasn''t nuzzling my neck.  She was quite busily kissing me.


    Over the next few minutes we figured out a few ways of doing it that didn''t involve our noses getting in the way or our teeth banging into each other''s.  Then we got down to kissing in earnest.  I told you this before, but Lily was definitely an Olympic level kisser.  She still is.  The kissing might have gone on for quite a bit longer, but we were interrupted, or rather, my body interrupted us.


    All of a sudden, I learned first-hand what the older boys had meant when they were talking about a certain part of you "standing at attention."  I suppose I could say that my dignity flew out the window but, in truth, I was mortified.


    We were both still naked.  We''d been waiting to dry off before putting our clothes back on, so it was a given that Lily was as aware of my reaction as I was.  What she did next was surprisingly calming and made my embarrassment disappear.


    She leaned back enough that she could look me in the face and said,  "It''s nothing to be upset about Johann. It''s totally natural.  In fact, it''s rather flattering.  If I can get your attention with a body like the one I have now, I wonder what things will be like when I''ve grown up."


    Then she gave laughed that deep, throaty chuckled that I''ve always loved so much.  How such a tiny thing could have such a deep laugh still puzzles me.  Her amorous inclinations notwithstanding, I was suddenly quite frightened.  Visions of her getting pregnant and dying in childbirth rushed back into my head.  Fortunately, she allayed my worries, at least for a time, quite quickly.  I swear, it was like she could read my mind.


    "Johann dear.  I have the same concerns you do.  That''s why today is going to be our last day swimming together like this and why we''re going to avoid being alone together from now on.  We can''t afford anything other than an occasional kiss."


    Lily suddenly had a fierce expression on her face.  "We are however NOT going to stop kissing each other.  However, we''re most definitely going to have to be careful about when and where."


    She wiggled against me, this time clearly wanting me to put her down, so I did, and then we both got dressed.  As we walked back to town, she had her "thinking hard" face one.


    "Johann, if you please, let me deal with this.  I''ll talk to my mother and she''ll talk to yours.  If we handle it right, our fathers will go along with our getting married without thinking about how the thought got into their heads.  They''ll probably think that it was their idea, seeing as how your father is a master cabinetmaker and mine is a master stonemason.  They''ll see the financial opportunities of a merger of the families right away."


    Me, I shook my head.  I was beginning, dimly perhaps, to see how much control of our lives our women had, and how little most of them wanted their men to be aware of it.  To be truthful, at that point I really didn''t care.  What really mattered to me was that I could have Lily beside me.  After we''d both been thinking a while longer, it was my turn to make a suggestion.  I didn''t want Lily to think that I was a complete idiot, though, in retrospect, I suspect that she''d had the same idea long before and was letting me think that I''d come up with it first.


    "It''s unusual but not entirely unknown for a couple to be betrothed when the girl is 10, at least if their parents are fairly well off.  So why don''t you talk to your mother about that too?  You''ll be 10 in only two months, right?  I don''t want any other guys having even the slightest opportunity to think that they have a chance with you, OK?"


    My expression must have been rather fierce, but Lily didn''t show even a tiny hint of amusement or the self-satisfaction she must have felt at my expression of incipient jealousy.


    What she did was say thoughtfully, "Yes Johann, that sounds like a very good idea.  I''ll be sure to bring it up with her as soon as our fathers have agreed to us getting married."


    We didn''t speak again the rest of the way home. When I was able to pay attention to the outside world again, I noticed that we were holding hands.  Normally it would have embarrassed me terribly if anyone saw us, but it felt like it would be wrong if I let go.  Besides, I was trying to figure out what was going on.  Lily''s entire body seemed to be vibrating.


    Finally it came to me.  When I''d carried her downstairs when she was six I''d imagined that she was purring.  Now I was quite sure that it hadn''t been my imagination after all.  It was right at the edge of my hearing, so deep that I almost couldn''t hear it at all, but she was, without a doubt, purring again.

 Ch 18 - Raven (part 1)

    The Year 40 After the Founding


    Everyone knew her, but almost nobody knew her, if you take my meaning.  There was no doubt that she''d been born here, but nobody remembered her parents, who had died in one of the pestilences that occasionally swept through the countryside.  She''d been about three years old at the time, and, since no-one else was willing, she''d been taken in, and eventually adopted, by Duchess Carline and the Duke.  Carline had called her "Raven" because of her extraordinarily dark, black hair.


    One thing that was generally known about her was that she''d been quite the tomboy in her early years -- climbing trees, and playing at sword fighting with the boys.  She''d even been known to skinny dip with them right up until she was almost 12.  She''d acted totally unconcerned when Duchess Carline had caught her that June and had lectured her for a good 10 minutes about "ladylike behavior" right then and there.  The whole time Raven had stood there, stark naked, and listened with what any astute observer would have called a "tolerant" attitude.


    At the end of Carline''s lecture, which had obviously not had the intended effect of humiliating Raven to the point where she''d never do such an unseemly thing again, Raven had simply nodded, put her clothes back on, and followed the Duchess back to the Ducal Residence.  She was, however, never caught swimming with the boys again.


    The Duke''s response, upon hearing of her latest "adventure" had been rather different from his wife''s.  In his diary entry for that day he had written: "It is becoming apparent that her inclinations are very different from those of almost all other women.  Although she is still very young, her mind is as sharp as the best poniard, and, perhaps, she will one day be able to serve me in a similar way.  For the nonce, let us direct her energies into attaining the skills she will need if things do turn out as I suspect and hope.  Besides, if we do that, she''ll be too tired at the end of the day to continue to aggravate my dear Carline so frequently."


    Over the next seven years, very few people had any suspicion as to what Raven was up to.  To be frank, very few people noticed her at all.  Oh, if someone asked if you''d seen her, you could honestly answer that you thought that you''d seen her in thus-and-so place that morning but that you had no idea where she was right now.   It wasn''t that she wasn''t memorable.  She had developed into an extremely handsome woman.  However, one doesn''t particularly notice someone who has mastered the art of Not Being Seen.


    Among those who claimed to have "magic powers" and fooled both the rich and poor with various kinds of tricks, you would occasionally find one who practiced true magecraft.  These people could be separated into one of three general categories.


    First there were those who masked their powers within their displays of trickery.  Second were those who did their utmost to conceal their skills at all times.  Most of the latter group were scholars and never showed their skills to anyone.  They wanted nothing so much as  to be left alone to do their research.   The third group consisted of mages who revealed themselves only to those with deep pockets, or those nobles who needed help in reaching various goals that they also supported.  There were times where those in the third group found themselves at odds with each other, which was where people like Raven became incredibly useful.


    It was not that she had some sort of super-powerful mage gift, far from it.  However she did have an ability to not be noticed.  After being thoroughly, and exhaustively, trained in the use of said skill by one of the "hidden" mages, she could walk in the front gate anywhere without being challenged by the guards, as long as she was at least a meter away from them.  Any closer, or if she made more than minor noise, she could be discovered.


    In addition to being trained in magery, the Duke also made sure that she no longer played at sword-fighting but rather learned it...as well as every other kind of weapons work Armsmaster Bjornson or the armsmaster''s apprentice, Delilah Stockholder could teach her.  By the age of 17, Raven was nearly as good as Delilah, and Master Bjornson frequently had them spar together, all the better to improve Delilah''s skills, as he intended to retire within the next few years.


    ---------------------------


    July 12, In The Year 47 After the Founding


    When she was about 18, the Duke had called Raven to a very private audience.  Only four people were officially present: The Duke, his daughter Abigail, her younger twin brother Pasquale, and Raven.  There was also Armsmaster Bjornson who sat some distance away, hiding in plain sight in a shadow and keeping watch for anyone who might be skulking around trying to eavesdrop.  The Duke''s beloved Carline had, sadly, passed away the previous month.


    Not being one for small talk, the Duke got right to the point.  "Raven, you have no skills in what we call the ''womanly arts''.  We all know that you also have no interest in that direction either.   Bjornson there," he nodded toward the armsmaster, "says that you''re as skilled with weapons now as Stockholder is.  If you had her interest in weapons-work, you could take over as armsmaster as easily as she could."


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.    He raised his palm to block Raven''s response.  "But I also know that you don''t, so that''s not an option for you.  What IS an option, and all of us are agreed..."  He looked at the others and each nodded back at him.  "Well, that option is this.  I want you to be for me what that dagger at your belt is for you, a tool.  I want you to be my eyes and ears, and, rarely, my hands in places that I can''t go.  In order to protect this town and its people, I need to know what others are planning that might affect us, either for good or for ill.


    "I''m going to be brutally honest with you."  He rubbed his palm across his balding head.  "There may be times that I need you to use that dagger on one of those who mean us harm.  There''s no reason to fight a war, and get dozens or hundreds of people killed if removing the person who wants to start that war will prevent it from ever happening.


    "That no one has, as far as I know, planned such thus far, doesn''t mean that it won''t happen next month or next year.  And that''s the problem, isn''t it? "


    He looked at Raven and examined her carefully.  She was surprised, yes, he''d expected that, but she also looked thoughtful.


    "I don''t expect an answer today, or even next week.  I want you to take however long you need to decide.  When you''re ready, come back and let me know.  If it turns out that this isn''t something you can do, tell me.  There are other things that we four have come up with that will also keep you busy, and, probably, not bored to death."


    Raven stood, bowed, and left the room without saying a word.  It wasn''t in her nature to speak unless she had something worth saying, and thus far she didn''t.


    ---------------------------


    July 23, In The Year 47 After the Founding


    Spring planting was long over, and harvest time wouldn''t be for almost three months yet, which meant that it was time for the younglings of the town to work on their staff training.  Raven, not having anything else to do at the time, had parked herself under a tree near the training ground and was munching on a poor excuse of an early apple.  She still hadn''t decided how to answer the Duke.  Oh, yes, the idea of skulking around and investigating things appealed to her, quite a bit.  On the other hand, the idea of killing someone who hadn''t personally attacked her bothered her a great deal.


    While her teeth worked on the apple, and her mind worked on nothing in particular, her eyes were drawn to the training ground by a flurry of motion.  One of the trainees, a boy of about 14, had managed to seriously press the staff master before he had been defeated.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.  Even most of the adults couldn''t do that.


    It had clearly been a demonstration at the end of the day''s work, as the group began to break up immediately thereafter.  A small girl ran up to the boy Raven had been watching and took him by the arm.  His sister maybe?  Then again maybe not.  She''d just pulled him down and had given him quite a thorough kiss.


    The boy blushed beet red, but, rather than teasing him, the other boys, and the men for that matter, except for a few grins and envious looks, totally ignored it and continued on about their business.


    How interesting.  Raven loved solving puzzles, which was probably why the Duke wanted her.


    Let''s see now:


    The kiss was obviously not something rare or the others around them would have reacted much more strongly, either positively or negatively.  And that was interesting.  This society frowned on casual displays of affection unless....unless one were in a serious relationship, though even then it would be tolerated more than approved of.


    She stared at the couple with some degree of disbelief.  The girl was holding the boy''s arm, looking up at him and chatting merrily about whatever it was she was telling him, and most of his attention was on her rather than where they were going.  A faint blush was still present, but his gaze was  more like a lover''s than a friend''s.


    Oh.  Really.  That was surprising.  They were much too young to be married, so, bethrothed?  Even that was a stretch, but it was the only thing that fit the facts.  Raven looked at the girl more closely.  Hmmm.  Bubbly personality.  She was  very pretty.  She hadn''t begun to develop, but if she were as young as she looked, that was a ways off yet.


    That would explain the envious looks from the other younglings present.  And as for the older men, they weren''t making a fuss because they were betrothed.  Still the girl''s behavior was more than a bit beyond what one would expect even so.


    Then it hit her.  Replaying the expressions of the adults in the area when the girl was kissing the boy, Raven realized that she''d made a mistake in assessing them.  What she had thought of as grins on the adults faces were partially that, but they were more looks of resignation than anything else, which confirmed her suspicion that this wasn''t the first time she''d kissed him in public.  How exciting!  This girl was, in her own way, as unconventional as Raven herself.  She tossed the apple core aside and followed the young couple into town.  This might be interesting.


    They made a beeline for what turned out to be the girl''s home.  The boy seemed to be somewhat reluctant to enter, but he quickly gave in when she tugged on his arm and dragged him toward the door.


    Raven was about to leave when she heard a cheerful voice behind her, "Well, well.  If it isn''t Raven.  Don''t you look a fright.   You have scrapes all over."


    Raven spun around and beheld a familiar face.  It was Rachel the herbalist, not to mention her older sister by adoption.  Even though she''d married before Raven was adopted, Raven had seen her many a time at the Ducal Residence where she''d been called to aid the Guard medic when someone had a difficult illness, had been injured in practice, or, more uncommonly, in a fight with would-be bandits.


    She relaxed, then tensed up again.  How had Rachel seen her?  She''d had her "You don''t see me" skill active as a matter of course.  As it was, after several years of practice, it was always "on" unless she made a conscious effort to drop it.


    Rachel approached and pulled on Raven''s sleeve.  "Well, don''t stand there child, come on in.  I can''t treat you out here in the street after all."


    She leaned closer and whispered in Raven''s ear, "If you always depend on that little magic spell of yours working, someday you''re going to find yourself in a world of hurt."  Leaning back she smiled, her bright white teeth in sharp contrast to her dark skin.  "Let''s get going.  Neither of us has all day, do we?"  So saying she led Raven across the street and into her home.

 Ch 19 - Raven (part 2)

    Rachel seated Raven on a stool in the middle of the room and bustled around her, collecting herbs from various containers.  She placed them in a mortar and began to crush them.  Lily came in through a door at the back of the room.  "I have Johann in the big pool.  These men!  He should know by now that he''ll be all over bruises from the training today if he doesn''t get a good soak, not to mention how stiff his muscles will be.  He''s only been doing this for two years after all.  There''s no way he''s good enough yet to manage a session with the Master without getting hurt."


    She turned from her mother, seemingly just now seeing Raven.  "Oh. Raven, I didn''t notice you at first.  I''ve seen you at The Residence, but I don''t believe we''ve been introduced even though we''re relatives.   I''m your niece Lily.  My fiancee in the back is Johann.  Though, if I know my mother, you''ll be meeting him sooner rather than later."


    As Raven was attempting to comprehend what she''d just heard, Lily put her hands on her hips and leaned closer.  "How interesting.  You look all blurry around the edges.  Are you some kind of magician?"


    Rachel caught Raven''s eye and nodded knowingly.  Then she walked over and commanded, "Arms up child."


    Raven responded instantly to Rachel''s tone and raised her arms over her head.  Before she could even blink, Rachel and Lily had pulled her tunic off.  When she could see again, she found Rachel staring at her front.  "My, my.  You have bruises on bruises child!  Whatever have you been doing?"


    From behind her Lily''s voice chimed in, "Here too Mother.  If all we do is poultice her, it isn''t going to work."


    Rachel rocked back on her heels a bit and rested her chin on her fist.  "Indeed.  The baths it is.  Stand up Raven."


    Following the new command she soon found herself without her trousers too.  Before she could react, she was being led to the rear of the house.  Raven could be forgiven for forgetting part of what she''d heard earlier.  Her mind was totally occupied by the realization that somehow these two small women had managed to completely overwhelm her innate resistance to being manipulated by others.  Yet here she was being lead to what was obviously a private bath.  She hoped that there was enough room for the two of them.


    The two of them?  Yes!  Lily had said that her Johann was already there.  After Duchess Carline''s lecture when she was 12, Raven had continued skinny dipping with the boys, albeit in secret.  The only reason she''d stopped at 15 was that she''d intensely disliked having the boys staring at her chest when she''d started to develop.


    Her concern right now wasn''t so much for herself as it was for Lily.  She was sure that the girl wouldn''t want her fiancee to be in a tub with a strange female, especially as Raven had continued to develop and was now rather shapely, as compared to Lily who still was almost completely flat.  Maybe she should remind Lily that he was there.


    As she was about to open her mouth, she found herself in a room with a faint haze of steam, where she was sat down on a low stool.  Immediately afterwards a bucket of warm water was poured over her head.  The next thing she knew, Lily was rubbing a fragrant lotion of some sort into her hair.  She then proceeded to shampoo her, complaining all the while, "You''re a girl Raven.  Your hair is full of twigs and knots. You should take better care of yourself.  Especially someone who''s involved in arms practice all day.


    "No, don''t interrupt me.  It''s as obvious as the sun if you know what to look for.  I may only be my mother''s apprentice right now, but even I can see that there''s a pattern to your bruises.  My message to you is the same as it was to Johann over there...." Lily pointed off to her right.  Raven turned that way and saw the boy.  He was sitting in what was more of a pond than an ordinary bath.  He waved, then slid down in the water until only his head was exposed.  A blissful expression settled itself on his face and he closed his eyes.


    Raven found two more buckets of water poured over her head, to rise out the lather.  Rachel took her by the arm and hauled her over to the bath.  "In you go child.  I want you do to what Johann there is doing.  Once you get used to the temperature, get yourself down just as far as he has."


    Raven was still somewhat numb from how quickly things had happened, but then she had her feet in the water and it felt...lovely!  She hurried to slide herself in the rest of the way, completely oblivious to the soft noises behind her.  She did vaguely notice Rachel saying, "I''ll be back when it''s time."


    She opened her eyes when she heard a splash off to her right, the side away from Johann.  She turned that way and saw Lily in the bath next to her.   "Johann and I haven''t been able to bathe together for almost three years.  We used to swim in the river, but that got a little, shall we say, ''dangerous'' when we realized we were in love with each other, so we stopped doing that."


    Lily''s eyes were smoldering.  "It''s not really very nice of me, but I''m taking advantage of your being here today Raven.  This way Johann can see how I''ve been developing without there being any risk of us getting too, ah, shall we say, ''involved''."


    Lily stood and pointed to herself.  "What do you think Johann?  Am I starting to look at least a little bit like something other than a beanpole?"


    Raven heard what sounded very like a hurriedly suppressed snicker coming from her left, then, "Indeed.  Yes.  Your hips are beginning to widen out a bit.  As for your top, well, you still have time."


    A minor tidal wave shot across the pool.  When it reached Johann, it resolved itself into Lily who bent forward and bit him on the nose.  "You beast!"


    Then she moved her mouth downward and gave him a long kiss, after which she stalked back across the bath and once again settled herself to Raven''s right.  Then she said, "I''m going to be serious Raven.  I''m no powerful mage, but I have a bit of ability in that direction, and so does my mother.  That''s why we can see you when you''re trying not to be seen, which you aren''t now.  For that I''m grateful.  When you have it ''on'' and are trying to hide like that, it gives me a headache to look at you."


    Raven did a quick inventory of herself.  Lily was right, which was passing odd.  The only time her avoidance field was "off" was when she felt completely safe, which was rarely.


    "There''s something else you should probably know Raven, and that''s about why the three of us are here together.  I''m sure you were wondering why I''m not frothing at the mouth with jealousy, right?"


    Raven nodded.  "Yes, but, I have a question too.  What made you think that I''d be willing to get in a bath with a strange man?"


    Lily laughed.  Raven was surprised to see how deep her voice was.  "I think most everyone in town knows that you used to swim with the boys all the time when you were younger.  I had the feeling that you wouldn''t mind particularly, as long as Johann didn''t get fixated on, um, let''s call them your ''assets''."


    Raven blushed, probably for the first time in her life and started to cover her breasts with her arms.  Realizing that it was a little, no, a lot too late, she let her arms drop and turned to glare at Lily who now had an evil smirk on her face.


    "OK, OK.  I give.  I give!  I''ll tell you.  Like I said, I have a small bit of an ability myself.  It''s not much, but I can tell how someone is feeling.  Mama has helped me figure out what the emotions I didn''t know meant, so now I can tell if someone is angry, embarrassed, happy...or horny."


    She grinned at Raven''s blush and continued, "That''s why I''m probably more matter of fact about such things than most people.  No matter what people say, I always know what they really feel, and I have since I was about five.  That makes it seven years now that I''ve been exposed to what Mama calls ''raging hormones''.  I got over being embarrassed about it years ago, and I guess it''s rubbed off some on Johann too."


    Raven turned to her left to see Johann nodding at her.  Then he closed his eyes again and went back to vigorous inactivity.


    Lily went on, "So I KNOW that while Johann admires your beauty, it''s the same feeling he has when he sees the sun come up over the mountains in spring, or when he sees a pretty painting.  He likes looking at you, what man wouldn''t?  But he doesn''t lust after you.  How could I be jealous and possessive when I absolutely know that the only woman he looks at that way is me, even though I still look like a child?"


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    She looked down at her body then raised her head.  "Well, I guess I am a child.  I''m only 12."


    Lily smiled at Raven.  "And that''s the reason you''re in between the two of us and why we NEVER let ourselves be alone together.  Just as I know how he feels about you, I know very well how he feels about me."


    She fixed Raven with a piercing gaze and held it as Raven processed all the ramifications of what Lily had just said.  By the time she''d finished, Raven''s color approximated that of a boiled lobster and she mumbled, "Oh. I, ah, I see.  Yes, of course."


    Leaning back and gazing across the bath, Lily added, "Just as I know that, I know how you''re feeling right now.  You''re conflicted.  There''s something you want to do, and at the same time you don''t.  You''re excited and scared, both.  Do you want to talk about it?  Before you answer, let me say that Johann and I would never betray a confidence.  I can feel it, but you''d have to believe us.  It''s up to you."  Lily closed her eyes and slid down until her chin just touched the surface of the water.


    Raven looked at Lily, then Johann, then back to Lily again.  She was absolutely amazed at what they were showing her.  Considering what she''d just heard, she knew that if they didn''t have self-control that equaled that of the saints, Lily would likely be pregnant the instant she hit puberty and became fertile.  No wonder Lily kissed him in public.  If she did it in private, there would eventually be unwanted, and highly unpleasant, consequences.


    It was that realization that decided her.  If these two promised her that they wouldn''t talk, they wouldn''t, and that was the end of it.


    "Lily, Johann.  I want you to listen to me please.  I need some help."  She looked back and forth between them and saw two small nods.  Other than that neither of them moved.


    "It''s like this...."


    ----------------------


    The next day Raven sought out the Duke and Abigail.  "I''ve thought it over, and I''ve decided.  I''ll serve you, and the town, as you have asked."


    The Duke nodded.  Abigail asked, "What made you decide to help us?"


    "Well My Lady, I met a rather extraordinary couple in town.  They''re quite young, but they''re also unexpectedly wise.  After talking to them, I realized that people like them need to be protected.  If we can do that, maybe someday people won''t want to go around killing each other for no reason other than that one wanted something the other had.


    "But for that to happen, people like those two need to live long enough to have children and to teach their children to be like them and not like those trying to take it all away from us."


    Raven dropped her head and whispered, "I''m sorry, I can''t say it any better than that."


    Abigail stood and walked over to where Raven was kneeling.  She bent to take Raven''s hands and gently pulled her to her feet. "Raise your head you silly goose.  You''re my sister as much as you would have been were your born in the family and not adopted.  You don''t need to say it ''better than that''. It''s exactly how father, Pasquale, and I feel too."


    Then she whispered, "And so did our mother, gods rest her soul."


    Abigail''s voice hardened, "And if you ever, EVER call me ''My Lady'' again, I''ll have Delilah hold you down while I paddle your bottom!  To you I''m ''Abby'' or ''Sis'' -- just as you called me when we were younger, capice?"


    Abigail nodded firmly then moved on.  "Now that you understand that, there''s the matter at hand. You said that this couple were wise.  That would imply that you told them of what we have planned for you.  Do you think that YOU were wise to discuss something like that when you knew that we here had taken great pains to keep it secret?"


    "Yes My Lady, I mean NO Abby.  It''s that I KNOW that they won''t ever tell anyone a single word.  I''ll put my life on it!"


    Abigail crossed her arms and tapped her right forefinger on the left forearm, over and over.  "I see. So without consulting with us, you...."


    She was interrupted by the Duke''s laughter, "That''s enough daughter.  If you go on our little Raven is probably going to faint from fear."


    His voice became more serious, "You need to learn better how to temper your humor.  Sometimes you go too far."


    Abigail turned to her father and curtseyed deeply. "Aplogies father." Then, turning back she added,  "and my apologies to you too dear Raven.  Our father is correct."


    Raven looked up with a very confused and somewhat wild-eyed expression.  Whatever was going on?


    The Duke resumed, "First of all, I want to tell you how pleased I am that you decided to accept.  However, you''re very young yet, thus I''ll start you with some very simple missions.  As with weapons work, you can''t expect a novice to do as well as an expert.  You''ll need seasoning, and a great deal of practice, exactly as you did when you first started working with the armsmaster.


    "Now, getting back to what we were discussing...it was immediately clear who you were talking about."


    He admonished Raven, "Don''t stare at me like that, it makes you look like an idiot.  You youngsters always seem to think that the rest of us are too old to think clearly.  You need to disabuse yourself of that attitude, and fast, else you won''t long survive.  You said a ''young couple'' and ''wise''.  You wouldn''t call people older than yourself ''young'', nor are you prone to think of ANYONE as wise.  You''re still too cocky for that.  Specifically you used the word ''couple''.  I don''t know about elsewhere, but that means either married or engaged here."


    Raven blushed with embarrassment, he was absolutely right, unfortunately.


    "As it happens, all of us, at least those of us who use our brains now and then, could figure out who you were talking about.  Johann Kastner is most promising with a staff.  Even though he''s only 14 there is enough potential there that the Staff Master is bringing him along with his training as fast as possible.  That boy is also helping the younger ones, and not only with their training problems.


    "And then there''s Lily Ashanti.  You obviously haven''t noticed, but she''s frequently here acting as her mother''s apprentice.  She''s going to be a fine herbalist someday, and she always seems to know what to say to calm down those who are injured. And, I''m not saying that because she''s my granddaughter.  We also know that neither one of them has ever let a single word slip about what they''ve been told or have seen when they''ve been here."


    The Duke looked at Raven sharply.  "So, putting all the pieces together, and adding in the fact that the both of us," he pointed to himself and Abigail,  "know you as well as we know anyone, and that you are one of the most mistrustful people we''ve ever met, Lily and Johann are the only possible answer."


    Raven was astonished, but Abigail wasn''t finished yet.  "Now that we''ve both impressed you with our brilliant powers of observation, I suppose we should tell you the truth.  Rachel sought us out yesterday afternoon and laid into the both of us with that formidible temper of hers.  Fortunately she had the decency to insist that she needed to speak to us privately before she did.


    "She chewed us up one side and down the other about how we were abusing you and not getting you proper healing and about how she couldn''t imagine how someone as ''beat up and worn down as that child is could still be functioning''.  She also said that you, Johann, and Lily spent over an hour in their bath and that the children wouldn''t say anything about what you talked about."


    She affected an expression of affronted dignity and shook her head.  "That Rachel.  My little sister never has shown proper respect toward her elders."


    Then Abigail outright leered at Raven.  "What did you three do in the bath for over an hour?  I must admit that he''s shaping up to be quite the handsome young man."


    Raven blushed to her toes and stammered, "Nothing. Nothing at all.  That is, we talked.  We talked about what you''d asked me to do, and, and they helped me.  That''s all.  Besides, Johann would never, ever look at any woman other than Lily."


    The Duke stroked his head with his left hand.  "Interesting.  That''s pretty much exactly what Rachel told us.  It seems that she''s no mage as we understand magery, but she can tell what people are feeling, sense their emotions somehow.  We''ve both seen her do it.  Sometimes we''ve had her hiding in a corner when we need to talk to people we don''t fully trust yet.  Her ''reading'' of how they were feeling has been most instructive at times.  Wouldn''t you say Abigail?"


    "Indeed yes father.  Most instructive.  I imagine that some of those whose proposals we''ve turned down are still wondering how it was that they didn''t fool us.  So are a few others who are now chained to oars on His Majesty''s warships."


    Duke Alphonse straightened into the posture he assumed when he was about to make a decree.  "Very well Raven, this is what we''ll do.  Word will get around that you are going to be an apprentice to Rachel.  In particular she''s going to teach you about hard-to-find herbs and seeds and such that are found far enough away that she can''t take the time to go get them and Lily is clearly too small to go after alone.  Some of these will be found only in places that are days away, or that will require you to journey to various seaports to buy them from traders.


    "That will explain why you''re going to be living there from now on and also why you''ll be leaving town towing a donkey or on a mule and heading all directions of the compass on a regular basis.  For what we have planned, you''re going to need an intimate familiarity with every single road and footpath you can manage to discover.  Going out to harvest plants will be an excellent cover for your later journeys where you''re gathering not only herbs but information for us as well.


    "Since you''re going to be at Rachel''s house, you''ll also be getting a good, daily soak."


    Alphonse aborted Raven''s attempt to protest with a glance.  "No, you''re not going to get away with objecting that you don''t have enough time.  You need it.  Rachel says so, and I for one have absolutely no intention of crossing her.  She can make her herbal draughts taste vile as easily as she can good, and I know that the next time I''m ill or injured which one I''d rather have.  Capice?"


    What else could Raven do but say, "Yes My Lord."


    The Duke looked down at her with a very self-satisfied expression.  "Very good.  Oh, and welcome to Our service.  We promise you that the work you do for Us will be used to improve the lot of the town and its residents.  I so swear."


    Then he grinned at her again.  "Now get your things down to Rachel and Nico''s.  You might as well move in tonight.  That might normally surprise people, what with it being so sudden, but, seeing as how she''s also your elder sister, folks won''t think it all that strange.  While your primary work will eventually be for me, what you do for her will likely mean more in the day-to-day lives of Our people.  So study hard.  When I need you up here, I''ll send Stockholder down for a ''treatment''.  Besides, you and Delilah are much too much alike.  I think I also want Rachel to tell me what injuries Delilah has been hiding from me."

 Ch 19 - Lily, Johann, and Raven (part 1)

    The Year 54 After the Founding


    Lily plopped the twins into Johann''s lap then spun back to the stove to continue the process of manufacturing their breakfasts.  The girls were at that dangerous age, where they were able to crawl, but not yet aware enough of their surroundings that they realized how hot things could get and what a fire could do to them.


    Johann paused his usual morning routine and gazed at Lily as she skillfully navigated herself around the kitchen.  It had been almost five years since their marriage and she had blossomed into quite the wonderful woman.  She had also become more and more beautiful, though he admitted, at least to himself, that he might be a tad biased on that point.


    One thing that wasn''t bias though was the knowledge that her skill as an herbalist now surpassed that of her mother.  While acknowledging that without her mother to teach her she would have been nothing but a bumbling amateur, it was eminently fair to say that she''d taken what her mother had given her and expanded the possibilities of what could be done approximately fourfold.


    It was Lily who had, by laborious experimentation, discovered how combinations of multiple herbs could be beneficial, especially with difficult problems.  Previously herbalists had rarely used combinations, and then no more than two at a time.  Johann was still irritated, to put it mildly, that even now some of the travelling male herbalists passing through refused to be taught by a woman, especially after being confronted by townspeople who were much healthier than those they would have seen anywhere else.


    The antics of the twins, Rosalie and Bernadette, distracted him from his brooding by trying to stand on his legs and pull at his hair.  He had no idea why it so fascinated them, but, though it was at times on the painful side, it kept them distracted and away from the cooking, which, if his nose was working, was about finished.


    One thing that most people didn''t understand was that a good herbalist was almost always an excellent cook.  There was something about their sensitivity to plants and their properties that resulted in them knowing exactly what herbs and spices would best season any given dish.  As a matter of fact, the Duke''s chief cook frequently came to Lily or her mother for advice in both seasoning and in treating the sick and wounded.  The latter was a sad fact resulting from them living at the very edge of civilization in the north of Italy.  Their location, and the steadily increasing size of the community, meant an excess of banditry and fairly frequent incursions by said bandits.


    Johann supposed that there were some plusses.  Because of the frequency of attacks, the Duke''s forces were extremely well trained and experienced in combat, something that bandits rarely, if ever, were.  Also, due to the care of the local healers, and the restorative properties of the waters of the hot spring in the center of town, even wounds that might otherwise have crippled those injured often healed completely given enough time.


    Like most armies, if you can call 40 soldiers an army, Duke Aphonse''s force was smaller than he''d have liked, but there was no way to pay for any more troops even though the town now had nearly 2,000 people in it.  Ordinarily even 40 would have been too expensive, but at any given time half served as a police force, and those off duty were regularly called on to help during planting and at harvest.


    The latter had been a godsend as, over the past decades, more than one group of would-be bandits were thwarted when some of the apparently feckless farmers they tried to attack pulled bows and swords out of their stacked belongings and vigorously counterattacked.  After that, when the first few defenders were followed by the others who were wielding highly effective quarterstaves, well, no such group tried attacking twice -- assuming that any of them survived the encounter.


    Interlude


    Ptica again stopped the playback.  "Much as I hate to do so, what with lunch coming soon, I guess I''d better explain what a quarterstaff is and why they were being used instead of other weapons.  From day one of his arrival, when he had rescued the village from attacking bandits, Duke Alphonse had an almost paranoid attitude toward defending his people.  Then, as now, there wasn''t money for many professional soldiers, but training a militia cost nothing except for time.


    "Now bows and swords, if they were any good, cost a lot, but a staff could be made from the wood of any tree at hand, and they had a lot of yew trees in the foothills to the north.  In addition to the yew trees, there was an abundance of oaks.  The duke had forbidden what modern people would call clearcutting and had also insisted that for each tree harvested two others must be planted.  At first many townspeople grumbled, but, since they loved their duke and his earnestness, they reluctantly went along with him.


    "As more and more travellers came and went from the town, the townsfolk learned of the barren hills surrounding many older and larger cities and came to appreciate their Duke''s point of view.  Eventually they even built a church dedicated to whichever spirit or saint had prompted his miraculous foresight.


    "Aside from that, the Duke mandated that all boys, beginning at age 12, and any woman or girl who was interested, be trained in the proper use of a staff.  There were a number of benefits.  A good staff user had a reach substantially longer than someone using a standard short sword.  Also, should they miss with their first swing, the staff had another end that could rapidly be swung around for another try.  Finally someone using a staff was highly mobile as they weren''t weighed down by armor.  Many a fight was ended when the one using a staff stepped to the side of his or her opponent and swept his legs out from under him.


    "Within only a few years another use for staves was discovered, and that discovery resulted in almost all the woman in town learning to use one.  Sometimes a thief or someone who was exceedingly stupid and randy would try to ambush a woman walking alone at night.  Successful attacks dropped to nearly zero once women made a point of being trained and thereafter carried a staff when they had to go out at odd hours for one reason or another.


    "Word got around fairly quickly about all the broken bones the "defenseless" women inflicted, and the use of staves spread throughout the countryside.  Eventually it became customary to begin training both boys and girls with appropriately sized staves around the age of eight.


    "That should be a sufficient explanation."


    ----------------------


    The Year 56 After the Founding


    It had been discovered by the time he was 13 that Johann had an exceptional aptitude for staff work, perhaps because he had been around wood since his birth.  At least that''s what everyone believed.  Whether or not it made any sense is another thing.  By the time he was 18 he was a squad leader and now, at 23, he was an acknowledged Master and was being groomed to take over the position of Senior Staff Master when the current master retired.  As it was, he''d been supervising the training of the best of the militia and no few of the professional soldiers for two years.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    No, don''t be surprised.  Any soldier worth his salt will study the use of any and all weapons he might be called upon to face one day.  Those who didn''t tended to die young.  And that brings us to what happened that day.


    One of the Duke''s grandsons, Albert by name, had a wee problem.  He''d come to believe his "friend''s" statements that the nobility were superior beings and should be treated as such by the "peasants."  On a lovely morning in June, it being Albert''s 16th birthday, Albert had been out riding with said friends, enjoying the fine mare he had been given by his parents.  On the way back to town he passed by the fallow field where the milita were training.  This particular squad was composed of the youngest novices who were still very awkward and unsure.


    Being rather full of himself in general, and especially so that morning, Albert began making rather loud, shall we say, "unpleasant" remarks about the trainees.  Unbeknownst to him, Johann was in charge of training that morning.  To his credit, for some time he did nothing to respond to Albert''s steadily more pointed goading, other than restraining the few hotheads in the new squad who wanted to take exception to Albert''s remarks.


    Finally even Johann''s temper was perturbed.  He turned to Albert and said, "Boy.  Your grandsire, the Duke requires this training and for good reason.  It is because of the militia aiding His Grace''s soldiers that we live such peaceful lives compared to so many other citizens of the realm.  I suggest that you moderate your words."


    In retrospect, Johann might have been a bit more careful.  Calling a walking bag of testosterone with an overly high opinion of himself "boy" was probably a mistake.


    Albert flew into a fury.  He dismounted from his horse, pulled out his sword and attacked Johann with great vigor and absolutely no skill, his anger having completely driven his minimal training from his mind.


    Johann only parried his blows, hoping that Albert would either calm down when he saw that he was having no effect, or would exhaust himself and be forced to cease.  Unfortunately Albert had had an excellent breakfast and was full of energy.


    Once it was clear that he wasn''t going to stop, Johann raised a questioning eyebrow at Duke Alphonse, who had been sitting under a nearby tree while observing the training.  The duke shrugged his shoulders and with a sad, rueful expression nodded.


    Johan nodded back and then, the next time Albert swung wildly and missed, carefully broke Albert''s right forearm, causing him to drop his sword, thus ending the fight.  As Albert knelt in the dirt, staring at his arm in shock, Johann picked up the sword and handed it to one of Albert''s companions.  "Take him home and see that he''s treated."


    Two of them got Albert back on his horse, then the group of them rode back into town, followed quietly at a distance by the Duke and his attendant, Armsmaster Delilah Stockholder who asked, "If you please Your Grace, may I deal with this matter as I see fit?"


    The Duke pondered for a short time then stroked his short beard and replied, "Yes.... That would probably be the best way.  See to it."


    "By your leave Your Grace."  So saying she encouraged her mount into a trot and hurried after the sprouts ahead of her.  By the time she arrived, Albert''s friends were hurrying him off to the treatment room. The medic would be elsewhere at that time of day, so two of his friends left to search for him.


    Delilah had followed Albert and stood outside the door in a location where she couldn''t be seen.  By then Albert was swearing up a storm, vowing to "teach that miserable peasant some manners.  The next time I see him he won''t be so lucky."


    As he drew a deep breath so as to continue his rant, Delilah quickly stepped into the room, picked him up by his shirtfront, and held him up against the wall, with his feet dangling six inches off the floor. "You miserable, misbegotten, moronic excuse for a human being.  Do you have any idea at all who you''re talking about?"


    Albert was totally shocked at being so treated, but one doesn''t EVER argue with the Armsmaster so he answered as civilly as he was able at the moment, "Indeed yes Armsmaster, I''m talking about a peasant who attacked me with his staff."


    "Oh. Really. And do you know the name of that peasant?"


    Albert shook his head "no" but his friend offered up, "I believe it was Johann, Armsmaster."


    Delilah began shaking Albert, banging his shoulders against the wall with each shake.  "Johann was it Albert?"


    "Now that you mention it Armsmaster, I do believe that was what I heard one of the other peasants call him, not that it matters. One like him is not worth remembering."


    Delilah stopped shaking Albert, and held him against the wall.  She moved her face to within two inches of Albert''s. "Of no mention is it?  Then I take it that I also am of no worth?  Is that what you think brat?"


    Albert had no idea at all what had the Armsmaster so angry, but he realized that he was in a great deal of trouble.  He shook his head no, with great energy, over and over while saying, "NO!  Not at all Armsmaster.  I''d never say such a thing!"


    "Oh really....  Then answer me this, If you insult your master''s master, are you not also insulting your master?"


    Albert puzzled his way through that and nodded.  "Well, yes, I suppose that you could say that.  But I don''t understand...."


    Delilah began shaking him again.  "Of course you don''t understand. That''s because what little brain you had probably dribbled out of you when you reached puberty!  Fortunately, I''m in a good mood today, so I''m going to explain the situation to you, and don''t worry, I''ll use tiny words.


    "MASTER Johann will be the next Senior Staff Master for this town.  MASTER Johann is the master who taught ME the fine points of using a staff.  YOU have insulted MY master, and you used most vile language in doing so.  I''d be well within my rights to challenge you to a duel."


    Her next question was asked in a toneless, flat voice, "Do you think that you''d survive such a duel brat?"


    Albert''s body went totally limp.  If Delilah hadn''t been holding him up, he''d have collapsed on the floor.  Tears sprang from his eyes and began to pour down his face, and he whispered, "No Master Stockholder."


    She turned, still holding him in the air, casually walked to the nearest bunk, and dropped him on it.  While turning she saw that the Duke and Abigail were standing immediately outside the room.


    "Once your arm is healed, you will walk out to where the militia trains.  You will apologize to the trainees and then you will get ON YOU KNEES, and humbly beg Master Johann for forgiveness and will likewise ask him to train you in staff work.


    She nodded toward the doorway.  "Any other punishment will be up to His Grace and your mother."


    Albert''s eyes widened and he sprang to his feet, assuming a position of rigid attention, totally ignoring the pain in his arm.


    The Duke stood in the doorway, unmoving, and unblinking.


    Abigail approached him and looked him up and down, from the top of his head to his toes.  Then she bunched up a fist and drove it into his stomach, forcing him to his knees with the breath knocked out of him.


    Thereafter she acted as if he were not there.  She turned to Delilah and spoke in a voice that made plain her icy fury, "Armsmaster Stockholder, if you would be so kind as to do me a favor?  The next time you see my son Albert, please inform him that he has been assigned to be under your care for the next five months.  You are to do with him as you please, whatever you feel is necessary to turn him into a human being instead of a spoiled brat with delusions of superiority.


    "Should you feel that a longer period of time will be needed, please so inform me.  We will not have ANYONE, of either sex, behaving in such a disrespectful manner toward those we have sworn to protect."


    Delilah bowed.  "By your command."


    Abigail turned and followed her father out of the room and, for a time, entirely out of Albert''s life.


    The medic bustled in at that point, followed by Albert''s friends.  All three of his friends, seeing the Armsmaster glare at them and pointedly look at the doorway, almost fell over each other as they rushed out of the room.


    Before the sun had risen to its zenith, the story had circulated throughout the Ducal Residence and, by that evening, the entire town.  Every one of those who were the children of nobles, or who had pretensions of superiority were thinking the same thing:  "If the Duke will do something like that to his own grandson, what will he do to us if we get caught acting like Albert did?"

 Ch 20 - Lily, Johann, and Raven (part 2)

    The Year 57 After the Founding


    It was early summer when Raven crawled back into town.  It was late enough that, even though dusk lingered in that season, it was fully dark.  The guards neither saw nor heard her as her concealment spell was at full force.  After a laborious hour, she reached her home.  She tried to stand up to open the door, but all she could do was get up on her knees.  From there she fell against the door with a loud thud.


    It was, perhaps, sheer chance that Lily and Johann were still up.  The twins had been rather fractious as they were recovering from colds, and it had taken until only 20 minutes earlier to get them to bed and asleep.  Thus it passed that they were still sitting in the kitchen sipping tea when they heard the noise from Raven falling against the door.  They rushed over, and Johann flung the door open, while Lily stood behind him holding the iron rod they used to stir the coals in the fireplace.  To their shock, what they beheld was Raven''s crumpled body.


    She raised her head and croaked,  "I''m sorry.  I know that I didn''t need to knock, but I somehow couldn''t get the latch to work."


    Johann scooped her up in his arms.  As he hurried toward the bath, Lily carefully set down the rod and latched the door.  Then she slowly walked toward the bath.  It wouldn''t do for her to panic and run.  If she tripped and fell on the way, they might have two patients to deal with.  She found Raven sitting on a stool, with her hands braced on the wall in front of her to keep from falling.  Johann was using a large pair of shears to cut her clothes off of her.  Lily nodded to herself.  They were so tangled and torn that it was the fastest way, and off they needed to be.


    Lily lit two lanterns besides the one they always had going in case a patient showed up at night with an emergency.


    Raven was taking deep, gasping breaths, though her lungs didn''t have the coarse rattle that would indicate pneumonia.  She was however shivering almost violently.


    Johann kept working on her clothes, while Lily began to examine her.  What she found shocked her.  She was covered with bruises, as she had been when they''d first met, only this time they looked like ones one would get after having been severely beaten.  From their color, Lily deduced that whatever had happened had occurred around a week earlier.


    Even more frightening was that Raven was covered with dried blood.  Lily didn''t see any obvious wounds, so she looked at the floor where the remnants of Raven''s clothes were.  Her answer lay there.  There were blood spatters covering the entire front of her shirt and her trousers.  Even her boots had dried blood on them and her hair....  It was so matted with blood that Lily was afraid that she''d have to cut it off in order to properly inspect her scalp for wounds.


    She peered at Raven''s eyes.  The pupils were the same size and seemed to be working.  Considering how long ago whatever it was had happened, it was likely that she didn''t have any lingering effects from a head injury.


    Johann looked a question at her and she nodded.  He kicked off his slippers, picked up Raven and walked into the bath.  Having to wash it out later was a small price to pay in exchange for getting her into it as quickly as possible.  Lily hurriedly stripped off her nightgown and, to Johann''s surprise, carefully folded it and put it on a shelf.  She waded into the bath and took over supporting Raven, while Johann got out, stripped off the rest of his clothes, and then rejoined the ladies.


    He held Raven while Lily professionally ran her hands over first Raven''s legs, then her arms, and finally her abdomen, torso and back.  When she finished she gave Johann a wan smile.  No fractures or signs of major internal injuries.  She''d have to check for strained ligaments and such another time.


    After about 15 minutes Raven had stopped shaking and seemed to be somewhat more alert.  They were sitting in their usual positions, Raven in the middle, Johann to her left and Lily to her right.  That was when Raven moved.  She raised her head and looked around.  Lily noticed that Raven''s eyes were oddly blank, and she didn''t really seem to be seeing anything, at least nothing that was visible to Lily.


    What she did next shocked both Johann and Lily.  She pivoted toward Lily then slid herself backwards so that she was sitting on Johann''s lap.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and began to speak in the same hoarse voice they''d heard when she fell through the door.


    "It''s all right darling.  They didn''t do that to me.  I didn''t let them.  It was late and I was heading back to my inn after delivering the message to that ship captain.  You know, the one the Duke sent me to.  I had my concealment up, I really did.  I promise you I did!  Lily and Rachel were right you know.  Sometimes depending on magic doesn''t help at all.  I was about to pass by a tavern when they came out.  They were almost staggering drunk, but there were 11 of them.  I did count them properly my love....


    "Before I knew it they were all around me.  The ones closest to me saw me. You can see me even when I''m shielding if you''re that close you know.  They grabbed me and started pawing at me.  Then one of the ones behind me grabbed my shirt and pulled it up.  Then he started groping my breasts.


    "I couldn''t keep my shield up then.  I tried, but I couldn''t.  That''s when all the others noticed me and surrounded me.  I knew what they were going to do, and I knew that I couldn''t let them.  You''re the only man I''d ever let do that to me, so when one of them tried to untie my trousers, I pulled one of my daggers out and killed him.


    "The rest were really, really drunk, but those sailors, they''ve seen knife fights before, so they reached for their knives too."


    Raven stopped talking and took some more gasping breaths.  At the same time she was squeezing Johann''s neck tightly enough to cut off his wind.


    When he was almost to the point of passing out, Raven dropped her arms into her lap and began to shake.  "I promised myself that I''d never let a man touch me unless it was Johann."  She continued, obviously still not aware of her surroundings, "I''d do anything to keep my promise.  He''s the only man I''ve ever loved, so I couldn''t let them do it.  I COULDN''T!"


    Then she sighed sadly.  "Not that it really matters.  I love Lily far too much to let Johann know how I feel about him."


    She paused for a few seconds and took one more, great, shuddering breath.  When next she spoke it was in an almost conversational tone, though her voice was still very hoarse. "I''d killed six of them before the other five ran away shouting something about being attacked by a demon.  By the time they''d come back with the Guard, I''d climbed up into a tiny opening between some crates and the eaves of a building and I''d put up my shield again.  I made it as strong as I could, and I waited and waited and waited.  I guess it was an hour before they hauled off the bodies and the last of the onlookers who''d come out of the tavern left.  I waited a long while more, then I crept off the dock and came home.


    She turned and looked at Johann.  Both he and Lily could see that her eyes were still wild and not focusing.  "I kept my promise darling.  All that one did was touch my breasts.  I promise you, that''s all.  Please, don''t send me away.  Don''t tell me you don''t love me!"


    Raven took Johann''s right hand with both of hers and squeezed it so tightly that it was almost crushed, and moaned, "Love me darling.  Love me and make me forget what they tried to do to me.  You know that I''ve never let any other man touch me.  Please?"  Then she started sobbing, while still holding Johann''s hand against her.


    Johann was more than a little wild-eyed himself at that point.  He looked over at Lily, desperately.  It had been one thing with them bathing together off and on over the past 10 years, but this was another thing entirely and he was in terror of Lily''s reaction.


    If anything his shock increased when he saw her expression.  It wasn''t anger or disgust.  Not at all.  It was one of extreme compassion and love.  In that moment he totally forgot Raven and lost himself in Lily.


    She smiled at him, and murmured, "I''ve loved you ever since I was six years old.  That''s 16 years.  In all that time, you''ve never so much as looked at another woman in a lustful way, and, even now, with Raven like this, you''re still only looking at me.  How could I be angry?  That poor child is bent to the point where she''s almost broken.  She WILL be broken if we can''t bring her mind back, and if that doesn''t happen, any time in the future she''s near a man who startles her, there''s a good chance she''ll kill him before she even has time to think.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "There''s one other thing you need to know and that''s this:  I love Raven too, just as much as I love you, though as a sister rather than a lover. Now, there''s a logical conclusion that can be drawn here if we want to save her.  And this once, my logic and my heart are in the same place."


    Lily got out of the bath and motioned Johann to do likewise.  He pointed his chin at Raven and mouthed, "What do I do with her?"


    Lily waved at him a bit more urgently, with mounting frustration on her face, so he picked Raven up and climbed out too, with Raven once more holding him about the neck so as to keep from falling.  Lily bustled around, drying them as best she could with Raven still glued to his chest.  When she was reasonably satisfied, she made a shooing motion at Johann.


    His mind and his expression matched perfectly.  He was absolutely, totally confused, so he did the intelligent thing and uttered an erudite, "Huh?"


    She smiled back.  "That''s my husband.  When it comes to matters of the heart you''re as dense as the rest of them.  Now stop asking questions and do what I tell you.  Take her upstairs and give her what she needs."


    Lily canted her head to the side and smiled again.  "And I guess you could also say that it''s what she''s wanted for a long time.  Naturally, given my ability, I''ve known all along, but it''s obvious that she''d never have said a word about how she felt if her mind weren''t near the breaking point."


    She made a shooing motion again and grinned widely.  "Get up there and make love to her you idiot!  If you don''t I''ll never speak to you again, assuming that she doesn''t accidentally kill you before morning."


    Johann smiled at her softly and warmly.  "You really mean it, don''t you?"


    Lily nodded.  He nodded back and gently carried Raven out of the room and up the stairs.


    ------------------------


    The morning light on Raven''s face woke her.  She tried to sit up and stretch, but she found her left arm caught under something.  She knuckled the sleep out of her eyes with her right hand and blinked several times.  As her eyes cleared, she saw that the reason she couldn''t sit up was because Johann was lying on her arm.  She must have gotten in really late to have forgotten coming home.  The three of them had rarely slept together after that first time, but she had to admit that those were the happiest memories she had.


    She tried to lever herself up with her right arm so as to free her left without awakening Johann.  As she pulled back she noticed that he wasn''t wearing a nightshirt.  How odd.  He always wore one.  Then she glanced down at her chest.  She wasn''t wearing one either.  What the hell?  As she struggled to figure out what exactly was going on, she noticed a suspicious dampness between her legs.  Oh my God!  NO!  Lily was going kill her, or maybe both of them.


    While she was frozen by her momentary indecision, she noticed that there was a small arm wrapped around her waist from behind and that something nearby was purring.  Somehow she managed to extract her arm from under Johann then turned around to see Lily''s face a few inches from her own.  Unlike herself, Lily was wearing a nightgown.


    Before she could say anything, Lily reached up and laid her palm on Raven''s cheek.  There was a smile in her voice when she said, "Welcome home Raven.  You are well come."


    A mischievous grin pasted itself on Lily''s face. "And welcome to the family, sister.  I gave you a couple of hours after Johann carried you up here, seeing as it was your first time with a man.  I peeked in then, just in case, but you were both asleep.  By then I was beyond tired myself so I got changed, and here we are."


    Raven sputtered, "How...how can you be so calm about this and what happened and....oh...."


    Her memories of the past week rushed in on her and she collapsed, weeping, against Lily''s chest.  She was still crying when Johann awoke.  He realized that he was most definitely not needed...immediately after Lily scowled at him and waved in the directions of the stairs.  He got dressed, went downstairs, and fed the twins what Lily had left out before she had come to bed the night before.


    When Raven was through crying, Lily brushed the remnants of her tears off her cheeks.  Raven stiffened.  "Lily.  I''m so, so sorry. I don''t know what to say.  There''s no excuse for what I did.  I..."


    Lily silenced her by laying a finger across her lips.  "You silly, silly girl.  Though you are partially right.  There is no excuse, because you don''t need one.  I should think that you''d know by now that what you and Johann did last night is entirely normal for a married couple."


    "Married couple?  But....  I don''t understand."


    Lily cocked her head to the side again and momentarily looked puzzled. "Frankly, I''m not sure I understand entirely myself.  But, somehow, I know that if we were to look at the records in the church we''d see that Johann is married to both of us."  She was confused, but, even more than that, she felt joyful.  "I wonder if I''m deluding myself here."


    Raven shook her head, as if trying to clear her mind.  "If you are, so am I, because, when you said that, I had the same feeling you did.  What in the world is going on?"


    "Frankly my dear, I have no more idea than you do, so let''s start with something that we can both understand.  First, let''s get you cleaned up, get the bed changed, and then get ourselves downstairs.  I love Johann dearly, but his cooking is barely edible, and even then only if your other choice is to starve to death."


    Lily looked at Raven critically.  "You''re much too thin.  If you don''t take better care of yourself, you might have some trouble with your pregnancy."


    Raven glared at her.  Lily''s sense of humor had always been rather on the strange side, but this was odd even for her.


    Lily held her gaze for a few seconds, then both of them laughed and got to work.  One thing Raven definitely agreed with Lily about.  Johann was a terrible cook.


    ------------------


    Lady Blue stopped the "replay" and slipped into "No-Time."  She was irritated.  Irritated and, maybe, a little bit frightened.  The irritation was because she had replayed this hundreds of times, and each time she had been unable to spot the instant where what she had originally intended to happen had split off and become what did happen.


    What she''d planned to happen was for Lily, Johann, and Rachel to petition the Duke to make a special exception and allow Johann to marry Raven.  Their explanation would have been that it was the only way to preserve her sanity.  They would have pointed to several sets of twins who were already cohabitating in trios due to their inability to be separated from each other.  That would have eventually led to "today" where such twin trios, to coin a phrase, while not incredibly frequent, were not that rare either and were accepted as the way things had to work out sometimes.


    Instead the situation had unfolded mostly as the reverse of what she''d planned.  Johann''s marriage to Lily and Raven was suddenly a matter of public record.  Not only that, when he''d gone to work that morning the first thing he heard when a customer walked into the shop was, "How''re the wives?"  That was the most galling thing of all.


    Within a week it had become clear that everyone in the town knew about Johann''s expanded family and, to some extent, the reason why the Duke had approved the marriage.  There were even comments along the line of, "Is she really back to stay this time?"  or, "It''s about time.  Going off alone like that is dangerous for a woman, even her."  That would be followed by a wink and a nudge. "So, how soon do you think he''ll get her pregnant?"


    The end result of all this was petitions to the Duke from a number of twins and their concerned families asking him to approve other trio marriages, their reason being the preservation of their sanity, their health, and even the lives of the twins involved.  They practically threw the example of Johann and Raven being married to preserve her mind in the Duke''s face.


    Precedent is a powerful thing.  He had no recourse but to approve the petitions, adding the single stipulation that such families were not allowed to leave the lands under the Duke''s control...ever.  The first such marriages took place within two weeks of Raven''s return.


    Within a decade it became clear to now Duchess Abigail that that particular codicil had not been necessary.  There was undeniable evidence that the further those particular kinds of twins and their spouses went from town, the sicker they all became.  They were inextricably bound to the land.


    Once again, as happened every time she reviewed the situation, Lady Blue felt a little trickle of fear.  She had missed something.  Somehow her original plan, where there had been a three week delay between Raven coming home and the Duke''s approval of the first twin/trio marriage, had been flawed.  The only change that had resulted from the "revised" situation was that three births occurred six to eight weeks sooner than they would have otherwise. This had in no way caused any adverse consequences in the ensuing centuries.


    No, let''s be honest, that wasn''t what she was afraid of.  Her mind was powerful enough to see the potential ramifications of those earlier births, and in retrospect it was clear that over the next two centuries things played out somewhat smoother that way than if things had followed her original plan.


    The problem was implicit in what had happened to the townsfolk.  She was an incredibly powerful being, and it had been ingrained in her since her consciousness began to form that one NEVER EVER manipulated the minds of other beings unless there was no other choice.  They were to be left to make their own decisions.  Oh, yes, one could hint and aid them, or as she had done with Paolo subtly encourage them to ask for help, but one did not change them without their consent.


    But here she was, presented with a fait accompli.  And it had not been one or two memories that had been changed, but nearly 3,000.  Having seen the results, she knew that it had benefited The City in the long run, so there couldn''t have been any malicious intent.


    Whoever had changed things had managed to permanently implant false memories into every single one of the townsfolk simultaneously.  Lady Blue could do that too, but only to one or two people at a time.  She knew, or at least suspected, that there were a few of the most senior Elders who could have managed it, but she had completely hidden this ''verse, hadn''t she?


    Being who she was, she realized that she had to look at her honest feelings about the matter.  The real cause of her fear was the realization that she had missed something of great importance.  If one were not allowed to change the memories of even a single person unless there would be a disastrous outcome otherwise, what potentially horrific event required manipulating the memories of almost 3,000?!


    She shook her head. She was wasting her time, again.  Dwelling on an unchangeable past was futile.  Regardless of the cause, things were what they were.  There was nothing to be done but to go on about her business.

 Ch 21 - Lily, Johann, and Raven (part 3)

    Raven never did leave town to go on a mission again, though by the time of her death it was in truth finally large enough to be called a small city.  The reason she stayed put wasn''t entirely because she was afraid to leave.  It was because she was far too occupied with her children to do more than make day trips with one particular member of the female guard to protect her while she collected herbs that didn''t want to grow except where they could run free.  That was the result of another of Rachel''s machinations.  She had marched in and told the Duchess that Delilah was being overworked and that if she collapsed it would be rather difficult for her to serve as Armsmaster.


    It was also Rachel who had suggested a compromise, knowing what a workaholic Delilah was.  Since the herbalists were some of the most important members of the community, it made sense to have the best protecting Raven when she was out in the "dangerous wildlands."  Thus it was that Delilah was now Raven''s "guard" whenever she had to go "gathering."  Now that they had more time alone together, they found in each other a good friend with whom they could discuss anything.


    One day, while they were out and Raven was digging up a plant that she was fairly sure she now knew how to cultivate in her garden, Delilah plopped down on a stump and gave out a great sigh.  Raven glanced over at her dejected form and offered, "So, what''s wrong?  You look worse than you did after you discovered that the arrogant guard of Baroness Livia''s you made look like a fool was  her son."


    "I wish it were that simple Raven.  This time, I don''t think that an apology is going to work.  Besides, the way the Baroness was looking at her son made me think that she was glad that he''d been taken down a peg.  No this is a lot more serious, I guess.  I can''t be sure.  I''ve never been in love before."


    Raven stopped right where she was and gave Delilah her full attention.  "I can imagine how confused you are.  I never realized I was in love with Johann till I was 28."


    Her expression was a mix of tenderness and love.  "You know, after our first time together, Lily teased me about being too skinny and that I''d need to eat better what with my being pregnant and all.  I thought she was joking, right up until I noticed that I wasn''t having my monthly any longer.  That''s when I found out that she and Rachel can see physical changes in people in addition to their emotions.


    "Now look at me.  I''m 37 years old and I have six children.  I know that twins happen a lot here, but really!  I mean, three sets of twins in a row?  That almost never happens.  It''s like I was trying to catch up or something.  I think that getting out here with you is the only time I can truly relax, even with Lily there to help.


    "It''s a shame that her problems after her first birthing made her barren...."  Raven''s look became pensive.  "Then again, maybe not.  She''s so small that another pregnancy might have killed her, so perhaps what happened was a blessing in disguise.


    "Since we''re telling the truth, I guess it might be safer if someone knows, well, you know, just in case?"


    Raven was fidgeting, shifting from foot to foot and moving her hands aimlessly.  "Don''t say anything.  Of course you don''t know.  After all it happened nine years ago.  It''s so hard to talk about this.  I should be over it but...."


    She crumpled down, squatting on her heels.  Finally she lifted her head and looked at Delilah. "I still have nightmares about that day.  I don''t think Johann or Lily know.  At least I hope they don''t.  Sometimes I think the only reason I still come out here is so I don''t have to be around any men.  I''m afraid that if one of them accidentally bumps into me, I''m likely to do something horrible to him before I can stop myself.


    "Johann is the only man I can truly relax with.  Sometimes, when I wake up in the middle of the night and see him next to me I find myself shaking in fear until I remember where I am and who he is.  He''s the most wonderful man in the world."


    She shrugged and smiled softly.  "I know that a lot of women in love will say that about their men, but he really is.  When he touches me it''s so gentle that I can forget for a while about what those sailors tried to do to me."


    She smiled again, though her eyes were wet.  She lifted her hand and touched one eye.  "It''s funny, but ever since then I''ve been unable to cry."


    Delilah stood up and spread her arms.  "I can''t say as how anyone would consider me a gentle person, but I think I can give you an adequate hug...if you want one."


    Raven stepped forward and Delilah wrapped her arms around her while she shook.


    After a time she took several deep breaths then smiled at Delilah.  "My reliving the past isn''t helping you with your problem."  Raven backed up, gathered her samples and put her things in order.  Then she brushed off her trousers, strode back over to Delilah, and laid a hand on her shoulder.  "Tell me what happened."


    Delilah smiled sadly.  "Well, it''s like this.  You know that courier of Count Abelli''s who''s been here so many times the past two years?"


    Raven nodded, so Delilah continued, "You see, I''ve been there most of the times he''s met with Duchess Abigail.  Most of the time it''s been about strategies to keep land-hungry nobles from coming here and trying to take Her Grace''s lands, seeing as she''s only a woman.  Well the Count, he likes stability, and with Her Grace''s lands bordering the entire north side of HIS lands, and knowing what a firm ally her father, the late Duke had been, and that Her Grace has continued her father''s policies, the Count doesn''t want to see changes here any more than Her Grace does.  He has enough problems with the puppies on his eastern and southern borders already.


    "At any rate, Her Grace and the Count have managed to dig up enough dirt on those overly-ambitious idiots that His Majesty is going to have to at least pull them up short...if he can''t get rid of them entirely and replace them with more reasonable people."


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    Seeing the dreamy look on Delilah''s face, Raven shook her shoulder and asked, "What in the name of heaven does all this have to do with your romantic dilemma?"


    "Oh. That.  Well, you see, it''s that courier, Alonzo O''Connor.  He''s so cute what with that carrot colored hair and pale skin and all those freckles.  It makes me want to...well...you know."


    Raven''s raised eyebrow and "get on with it" expression helped Delilah get back on track.  "Yes, anyway, he''s really, really smart.  He''s the one who figured out what those two nobles were up to, and he''s also the one who figured out how to trap them into exposing what they were planning.


    "I guess that''s the problem.  He''s a scholar and I''m a warrior.  When he was here three months ago I told him how I felt about him.  You know me.  I wasn''t subtle about it.  He got all red in the face and almost ran back the way he''d come.  Since then he hasn''t been back.  The last two times the Count needed to send someone, it wasn''t him.


    "You know I can''t leave here, I''m needed too much.  I''ll never see him again!"  With that she dropped her face in her hands and sat there, a perfect picture of dejection.


    Raven''s response was so surprising that it shocked Delilah back into the world of the living.  "So what?  What does it matter that you''re not going to get together with him right now?  Frankly you''d make an awful mother.  You''re too old to be sure that you''d live long enough to raise them anyway. Besides, your talents are needed elsewhere this time ''round.  You''ve already done more in this life that I expect most people do in 10.


    "If you truly love him, you''ll have a chance again in another life."


    Delilah raised a newly hopeful face.  "Do you think so?  Really?"


    "Yes love, I do.  Now, help me get the rest of my things on my mule.  We''re nearly an hour behind schedule, and I need to get back in time to help make dinner."


    As they rode back, Raven hoped that she hadn''t given her friend a hearty helping of false hope.  She prayed to whatever god might be listening that what she''d told Delilah would come true someday.


    A sudden gust of wind danced around them then moved deeper into the forest.  Had Raven''s hearing been more acute she might have heard words fluttering around her as it did.  "Granted little one.  I also grant you the wish you are too selfless to ask for yourself.  One day your fears will be as nothing compared to the love which will surround you."


    --------------------------


    Rachel Bulambo Ashanti carefully withdrew her attention.  She hadn''t expected that she''d need to intervene, but it was attention to details that won the race, so she''d watched the conversation anyway.  That''s what the problem was with "Lady Blue."  Oh, she was coming along nicely, but at times she was still too much of a child.  Once she fixated on what was significant in a situation and decided on what had caused it, she quit looking for any possible alternative explanations.


    That was why she''d missed the triggering event that necessitated manipulating the memories of so many people nine years earlier.  Her basic assumption was wrong.  It wasn''t the marriages and subsequent "early" births of the twin trio''s children that were important, but rather it was Raven''s returning home that night.  Or, to be precise, it was even earlier, with the totally unexpected consequence of the birth of Lily''s twins -- her sterility.


    If Lily had retained her fertility, the one becoming pregnant the night Raven returned home would have been her and not Raven.  In order for what Lady Blue planned for this ''verse to bear fruit, it was absolutely essential that Johann have more children, and the conception had to be then and there.  Not the day before or the day after.


    For many millennia afterwards Rachel felt regret about having worked on Raven''s mind so as to accentuate the horror she''d suffered.  But, if she hadn''t, Raven would never have responded to Johann as she had, nor would Lily -- who did in truth love Raven as if she were her twin -- have forced Johann to bed her.


    Thus the reason for the mass memory manipulation was one single thing.  It was absolutely necessary that Johann''s children all be legitimate in a legal sense.  There were essential events nearly a millennium in the future that could not happen if that weren''t the case.


    It was their great fortune that Raven had been so deeply in love with Johann.  Because of that, the "error" had been repaired.  Besides there were side benefits.  There were three parents to take care of the eight children.  That made life less difficult for all of them and left time for more cuddles for the little ones.


    There''s a saying that "time heals all wounds."  That''s nonsense of course.  Time does nothing but give you a way to count the passing days.  It''s love that heals wounds of the heart, and Raven was surrounded by it every day for the rest of her life.  Not to mention that it was the, to her, miraculous fulfillment of her carefully hidden love for Johann which resulted in her declaration to Delilah.  Had she not experienced that, she would never have been able to be so  emphatic in declaring that Delilah could truly expect that one day she would once again encounter the one she''d fallen in love with.  As with Raven''s pregnancies, that far off encounter was also critical.


    Overall Rachel gave "Lady Blue" a solid C+.  She''d spotted the general area of the change but had missed the timing by three weeks and had misidentified the pivotal event.  Nevertheless that child was doing reasonably well so far.  Rachel hoped that there wouldn''t be any more random errors cropping up that would jeopardize the entire plan.


    But that''s why she was there to keep an eye on things, wasn''t it?  As long as she was able to conceal herself and nip any potential disasters in the bud, as she had nine years earlier, that terrible, eons ago tragedy would have a chance to finally be resolved.  Fortunately she wouldn''t have to hide all that much longer.  Things were going to come to a head within the next 1,500 years or so, hardly an instant in the lifetimes of such as they.


    Hmmmm....  On second thought, maybe she was being a bit too harsh with her grading.  Lady Blue had forseen the need and established this alternate ''verse where The Compact had no force, and that was allowing her to mold events in certain areas without worrying about penalties.  Perhaps she''d up the overall grade to a B.


    --------------------------


    Sara and Paolo woke slowly.  They found themselves wrapped in each other''s arms and smiled.  Slowly each reached up and touched the traces of dried tears on the face of the other.  Uncharacteristically it was Sara who spoke first, "After seeing all that, I think that, just maybe, we need to watch over Yoko and Hibiki, and others like them.


    "Lady Blue wouldn''t have put us through something so terrifying without a good reason."


    Paolo smiled his agreement and teased her by saying, "I knew that betting on you was the proper thing to do.  The odds of you being wrong are close to zero."


    His expression sobered.  "Though I must admit that right now I have no idea why those children are going to be needed or what for."


    He stretched and yawned.  "But...that''s what life is for, eh?  Live and learn.  Speaking of which, it''s time we got up and started living."


    As he started to rise, he felt his arm restrained.  Looking down at Sara''s hand on his, he added, "Well, I suppose we might be able to delay for about 11 minutes.  It''s amazing how much you can do in such a short time if you put your mind to it."

 Ch 22 - Jason and the Twins

    September 27 in The Year 721 After the Founding


    "You turned in your quarterly project last week Jason.  How was your evaluation?"


    "All went as predicted Mother.  Given the quality of our work, Sensei had no other option than to rate us as ''Excellent''."


    Akane sighed inwardly.  She''d long despaired of getting Jason to practice even the most rudimentary tact when speaking, but it still bothered her.  "And why is that dear?"


    "How could he not?  Our group''s analysis of trends of land values in the twelve districts of The City over the past 200 years is unique.  Nobody has ever done something like that before.  Even father was interested in the part where I''d derived a formula that can be used for predicting the pattern of prices up to 10 years in the future.  I don''t understand why he asked me not to discuss that part with anyone else though.  It''s not like I made any mistakes in the math...."


    Akane looked up as his voice trailed off.  It was most unlike him to be anything other than, shall we say, "decisive" when he was speaking.  What she saw surprised her even more.  He had what could best be described as a "dreamy" expression on his face.  She didn''t recall ever seeing him look like that before.


    "Jason dear.  Is something wrong?"


    He shook himself, bringing himself back to the present.  "Oh, no, sorry Mother. I was remembering something.  I know it''s hard to believe, but I made a mistake in one of my calculations.  Fortunately Yoko was there and spotted it.  She''s so smart!"


    His mother reflexively grabbed the arms of the chair she was sitting in.  Surely an earthquake was about to happen.  Jason never called someone else smart.  Usually, on a good day at least, he''d refer to other people as "slow."  She shuddered when she remembered what he''d called some of their adult friends when he was younger.


    "Dear...who is this Yoko person?"


    He looked up at his mother with the beginnings of a "how could you not know expression" but caught himself and schooled his face into blandness.  It was still insulting, but not as bad as it could have been. Maybe he was learning.


    He coughed once.  "Yoko is a classmate.  She and her sister Hibiki were also working on their project at the Registrar''s Office.  The people there mostly seemed to think that we were getting in their way, so they had all of us sharing the same table."  Jason stopped there, not understanding that his mother''s current expression was one of encouraging him to continue.


    "Go on Jason, tell me more about these girls and their project.  Knowing you, you learned a good deal about it from listening to them."


    (While born in Italy, Akane Fukui was, culturally, more of an old Japanese aristocrat than a modern, relaxed Italian.  Consequently, social position was about as important to her as her blood.  She knew the details of every family of Japanese descent in The City and felt a compulsion to place Yoko and Hibiki in their proper slots.)


    "Oh, OK Mother.  Their project involved the accuracy of city tax records.  In particular their hypothesis was that one could trace one''s family history by accessing the records of various taxes paid over the centuries.  Did you know that The City tax records go back almost 500 years?  I wonder why they don''t have them for the whole history of The City.  It hasn''t moved or been burned down or anything.  And Yoko is as crazy about history as you are.  I wonder if we could...."


    "Yes, that''s interesting dear, now let''s get back to these girls."  Time to get what she really wanted from him.  "What did you say their family name was?"


    "I didn''t say Mother.  You know that I didn''t.  Your memory is at least as good as mine.  Are you up to something?"


    Well, he was her son in that at least.  He''d spot even a tiny discrepancy in the trend of a conversation.  Unfortunately he also, almost always, pointed it out...usually at the most embarrassing time possible.


    "Let''s leave it that I want to know their family name, shall we?"


    "Oh, all right Mother.  Why didn''t you say so straight out?  It''s Macklin."


    Macklin.  Well, well.  That explained quite a bit.  When Hiroshi Tsukimine has married, he''d followed Japanese custom and taken the surname of his wife''s family since there were no male heirs in the direct line who could keep the family name alive.


    He had impeccable credentials.  His family had been well-regarded aristocrats in Japan, at least until the political winds changed and they were forced to flee or become impoverished -- or worse.  He''d done well for himself.  He was a partner in what was generally conceded to be the most prominent bank in The City, even by its competitors.  She''d even heard that it had recently expanded and had opened branches in several major cities.


    Well, he wasn''t a problem.  The problem was his wife.  Oh, Akane had heard that she was a nice enough woman, and she seemed to be intelligent.  It was that her roots were in the dirt.  Akane hadn''t probed deeply when she''d checked them out, but it appeared that they were all farmers or, at best, moderately successful shopkeepers.


    "Oh, that reminds me mother.  Yoko sent you a gift."


    He ran off to his room before Akane could say anything and returned shortly with a rather large scroll in his hands.


    Akane did not like being blindsided.  One doesn''t send a gift to someone out of the blue, especially a stranger.  There''s a proper procedure leading up to such a thing.  And a gift from a child Jason''s age?  What was her obligation to the child if she accepted it?  Well, first things first.


    "What in the world is that Jason?"  She stretched out her hand to receive it.


    Jason backed up a step and put the scroll behind his back.  "You''re always after me to explain things properly Mother, so let me practice, please?"


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.    Akane nodded a startled consent.  Jason thinking about what someone else wanted, twice in the same hour?  She looked at the ceiling.  No, no cracks, it didn''t look as if the sky was going to fall.   "Go ahead dear, explain it as you see fit."


    His smile could be considered beatific.  Nobody ever told him to tell a story the way he wanted.  They always got fed up with him and cut him off.  "Yes Mother. I''ll do my best to not get sidetracked.


    "OK.  Well, when they''d worked their way back to the oldest records in the Registrar''s Office, Yoko got really excited about something.  She called Hibiki over and they put their heads together, you know, talking in ''twin''.  Hibiki has this really pretty handwriting.  She practices something called ''calligraphy'' and also does tea ceremony, you know, like you do mother, and...yes, getting back on track.


    "Anyway, they rushed out and were gone for an hour.  Oh, they did put all their things back in place before they left.  When they came back they seemed really happy about something but they didn''t answer me when I asked about what.  They didn''t say anything for two weeks, no matter how I asked.  Whenever I did, either Yoko would start asking me about my project or Hibiki would draw something.  Even though we''re in Italy she almost always does her ''calligraphy'' in Japanese.  She says that the characters are ''soothing''.


    Seeing his mother''s look of gentle remonstrance he got back to the main subject.  "Yes Mother.  They showed it to me three days ago.  When they''d run off like that, it had been to see their brother-in-law, Paolo Donetti.  He''s studying to be a priest.  Oh, he''s married to Sara Macklin, their older sister.  You know, the girl who took first place in the City Exams this year?"


    Now that was interesting.  Akane rarely paid much attention to the exam results, except to see how many students from her school did well.  She''d not connected the girl''s name to Hiroshi at the time.  So these girls were the siblings of the girl who''d taken first place with a perfect score?  Interesting indeed.


    Taking his mother''s silence as consent to continue, he did.  "Somehow they got Paolo to arrange for them to see some old records at the Little Cathedral.  You know, that''s an odd name for a building that big, and...."


    He paused, seeing his mother''s right eyebrow start to twitch.  "Why are you doing that mother?  You''re not sick are you?"


    Akane sighed.  "No Jason. I"m not ill.  People do things like that when they''re frustrated or impatient.  I guess that''s the best way to explain it.  It''s that you were going off on a tangent, a big one, that had nothing to do with what you were going to tell me."


    "Oh. I see.  Yes.  I guess it makes sense, sort of.  Anyway, I''ll try to memorize that.  Maybe later you can tell me about other things people do?  Or does everyone twitch their eyebrows like you just did?"


    "No Jason.  Not everyone.  And, yes, I''ll tell you later.  So for now if you''d get back to your story?"


    "All right.  Yes. Well, what they found was interesting, even to me.  They''d traced things back from the tax records and then through several sets of church records to the same man, who turned out to be their many times great-grandfather.  And you''ll never guess, not in a million years!  He was married to two women who weren''t twins!  Not only that, one was one of Duke Alphonse''s granddaughters, and the other was one of his daughters.  The twins are descended from the granddaughter.  Anyway, the man''s name was...."


    Akane cut him off with, "Johann Kastner.  Son-in-law and grandson-in-law of Prince Alphonse Joseph Bulambo, usually known by his lesser title of Duke Bulambo.  Johann was a master cabinet maker, a ''Staff Master'', and the man who organized the City Militia in the form we know it today.  After Duchess Abigail assumed her position, he became one of her chief advisors in all things related to the military even though he was a civilian.


    "Remember his name Jason.  He was one of the 10 most important people who lived during the first 70 years that The City existed.  Then she murmured to herself, "How interesting.  So these Macklins are descended from him."  She turned to Jason, "Did they say how the line of descent ran?"


    "Yes mother, they did mention that.  Their mother Blair''s mother Ophelia''s father''s line. Um, it was Johann and the Duke''s grandaughter Lily''s firstborn, Rosalie.  After that it was all through males until Ophelia was born.  And that''s why they sent these gifts."


    "Gifts?  You said earlier that there was one gift."


    "Oh, well, sort of.  You see, when Yoko said that she''d send this to you," he waved the scroll in her general direction, "Hibiki said that she needed to send something too, so she did a calligraphy word for you. It''s rolled up inside the other so I sorta forgot.


    "Oh, The scroll is a copy of the genealogy they worked out, all the way back to Duke Alphonse.  Let''s see, what did Yoko say?  There was something unusual."


    Jason lightly bonked himself on the head.  "I almost forgot again, Yoko said that she put in a lot of other names she found from back then that were about other people.  One of Master Johann''s wives, the one who was the Duke''s granddaughter, was called ''Lily''.  I said that already, didn''t I?   The other, the one who was the Duke''s daughter, was  ''Raven''.  That''s a silly name for a girl, isn''t it?  I wonder why they called her that, and...getting on with the story, yes.


    "Yoko found an old diary belonging to the bishop at the time.  It said that Master Johann''s family was at the Ducal Residence for the 12th birthday party for the twins and that it was hosted by their aunt Duchess Abigail.  Uh, Raven''s first twins, not his other wife''s twins.  Her name was Lily, the other wife.  Oh, I''ve said that two times already, haven''t I?  Well, at the party there was someone named Count Phillip Augustine who had stopped by that day.  He had a son three years older than Raven''s daughters. Four years later his son moved to The City and he married them on the day they turned 17!  Isn''t that interesting?


    "Anyway, Yoko wrote it all down and put it on the chart too.  So, ah, here it is mother.  And thank you for letting me tell it to you all the way."


    He carefully unrolled the scroll and weighed down the ends.  It was a good 3 meters long and a full meter wide.  It was covered with closely spaced writing in the standard geneaology form.  In the middle was a piece of paper about a half meter square.  As she picked it up, Akane noticed that it was unusually good paper too, a type that was hard to come by and was exceedingly expensive seeing as it was handmade and was imported from Japan.


    On the paper was a single word in bold kanji, "Perseverance."


    A tear came to her eye.  How wonderfully appropriate, and what a tastefully delivered gift.  Two children who were strangers could never come to one of her status in person and encourage her in raising her rather unusual son.  By sending this, they were subtly letting her know that they understood the challenges involved and were thinking of her.  It was a mature approach that she wouldn''t have expected in someone under 25, certainly not girls who were 12.  It boded well for their future.


    "I think I''ll have this framed and put it in my study where I can see it when I''m at my desk.  Jason, please thank them for both of their gifts."


    He bowed.  "Yes mother, I shall be pleased to do so."


    He grinned at her.  "Hibiki taught me that.  She said that you''d probably like it, and I like doing things for you that you enjoy."


    His brow furrowed.  "Though I don''t think that I do it all that often."


    Akane stood, flung her arms around him, and hugged him tightly.  "It doesn''t matter Jason.  You''re still my son, and I love you very much.  You don''t have to try to do things my way all the time. Just be yourself.  That''s enough for me."


    Neither then nor later did Akane realize that she''d taken the bait Yoko and Hibiki had prepared.  The extra information about the other nobles that Yoko had put on her chart was intentionally incomplete.  When Akane got around to reading it, she was going to be ecstatic.  Nobody had ever seen a good genealogy of Count Augustine''s family, and Yoko was the only one who had the data she''d need before she could publish it.


    As for Hibiki''s gift....  It was true that Hibiki had, in some small part, intended to encourage Akane with her "Perseverance".  Mostly though it was a declaration that she and Yoko were going to persevere until Jason was theirs.

 Ch 23

    December 03 in The Year 721 After the Founding


    "Mother, I''ve finally decided on my first choice for my secondary school."


    "Oh, what''s that Jason?  I thought you were planning on coming to Ingvold."


    "Well, yes I was, but, to be completely honest, it''s too stodgy for me.  Nobody there has any fun.  All they do is study.  People have to play at least some of the time, don''t they?"


    Akane had heard worse than "stodgy" used to describe her institution, so she ignored it.  "And where do you want to go to school Jason?"


    He started bouncing in his chair.  "Chapman School.  I''ve been checking them out.  They have a new course in advanced mathematics and science that they''re planning to carry through all six years!"


    Akane grinned at him, and might have fist-pumped had she been alone, but it was totally unladylike, and Jason would invariably have asked her why she''d done it.  At any rate, this was going much better than she''d anticipated, and he''d come up with it himself.  Now she wasn''t going to have to maneuver him into going there.


    "It''s a good school, but it''s not as prominent as several others.  How did you hear about it?"


    He smiled at her.  "After the wedding."


    "Wedding?  What wedding?"


    "Oh, didn''t I tell you?  It was the wedding reception after Yoko and Hibiki''s sister married Paolo Donetti."


    Akane frowned.  "And what were you doing at a reception I didn''t know anything about."


    Jason looked puzzled.  "But Mother, I was the one invited.  Why should I have told you about it?"


    This time Akane almost facepalmed, but once again Jason would have asked her why, and she didn''t want to go there just then.  "Jason dear, normally a child''s parents like to know where they''re going.  That way if something urgent comes up, oh, like someone getting hurt, the parents will know where the child is."


    He pondered for a minute.  "I see.  That makes sense.  I''ll do that in the future Mother."


    "Who invited you the reception?"


    "It was Hibiki.  She said that there wasn''t going to be anyone else near their age there and they wanted someone to talk to."


    Jason frowned.  "But I hardly had any time to talk to them.  There was this older girl who kept on talking to me, practically forever.  She kept telling me what she said were ''better ways to do things'' than what I was doing."


    Then he smiled.  "Hibiki does the same thing, but only once in a while, and she''s a lot nicer about it.  Maybe that''s why I try to remember it when she tells me."


    Akane''s mind grabbed onto that and held tightly.  It was useful information, both the negative as well as the positive.  "And what was the older girl''s name dear?"


    Jason''s look was only mildly distasteful, but his tone was more disapproving, "Eugenia Donetti.  She''s Paolo''s younger sister."


    How interesting.  Eugenia had recently been admitted to Ingvold.  She''d struggled a bit at first but now she was doing reasonably well.  Although a good student, she, like so many others at Ingvold, was, to be kind, somewhat socially inept, though not nearly as much as Jason.  Akane had often used what she learned from raising him to help some of the students with similar problems.


    Akane found it interesting that brilliant scholars often had odd personalities.  She had no idea why, but nevertheless it was true.  For the present, speculating on that could wait.  They still had to finalize Jason''s plans.


    "About Chapman, Jason.  Are there any other reasons you want to go there besides what you already told me?"


    "Well, their general curriculum is reasonably advanced.  This last year students from there placed first, third, 11th, 21st, and 39th in the City Exams."


    Akane gestured encouragement.  "And is there anything else?"


    Jason nodded, seemingly confused.  "Well, yes, I guess there is.  Hibiki and Yoko will be going there.  I really don''t understand why it matters, but that''s somehow tied up in it all too.  I can''t pin it down, and that bothers me.  One thing I''m really good at is figuring out things, but I can''t this time.  Maybe it''s because we''ve been together for all seven years of primary school, but, well, I guess that the idea of not being in the same school as them bothers me somehow.


    "Do you have any idea why I''m feeling like this Mother?"


    "It''s probably nothing to worry about dear.  Think of it this way.  Sometimes I''ve seen you get stuck when you''re puzzling over your mathematics.  You get up and go away for an hour or a day, then you come back to it and figure it out.  Life is like that.  Sometimes you have to wait and see what happens.  I think that this is probably something like that."


    His smile brightened the room.  "Thank you Mother.  That makes perfect sense.  A wonderfully rational analysis."


    Uncharacteristically, he gave her a big hug, then left the room with a lighter step.


    Akane whispered toward his back, "Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life my son.  It''s likely to be extremely interesting."


    -----------------------------------


    Thursday June 12th in The Year 722 After the Founding


    Annapurna Abbot was one of the three Homeroom teachers for the new students each year.  As a consequence, she faced more problems than most as she helped the children from the various primary schools that Chapman drew from adjust to the more structured life here.  Every new school year brought new challenges, both for the students and the teachers, and this year had been no exception.


    Even though she faced these situations every year, and, truth be told, relished them, this year was much more trying than the usual unusual.  She had been stressing about the new year since she learned that one set of twins entering her class were the younger sibs of Sara Macklin, now Donetti, the high scorer in the City Exams the previous year.  The younger brother of Kaho Fukui, who had placed second, was also going to be in her class.  If the three of them were anything like their older siblings, Annapurna was going to need to be on her toes.


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    She was accustomed to the behavior of twins, having been born in The City.  Indeed she was a twin herself.  Again, as always, there were several sets of twins in the classroom, five to be exact, which was only one below the average.  Some years all of them were a bit rowdy, and some years they were all of the shy, retiring type.  This year was a bit different, specifically with regard to the Macklin twins.  Yoko, the eldest, tended to be on the boisterous side, but after a time she would withdraw and sit leaning against her sister.  Hibiki was definitely one of the shy ones.  Like her sister though, she was not what she seemed on the surface, which had been made clear during the first week.


    On the third day one of the older boys had been harassing a new student.  It was highly inappropriate but, no matter how hard staff tried to eliminate such behavior, it always cropped up to some degree.  Annapurna had thought to intervene, but, as it turned out, she wasn''t needed.


    Hibiki Macklin had been passing by when the incident occurred.  She had walked up to the larger boy and said, "It''s not nice to be mean to people, especially if they are littler than you are."


    When the upperclassman had turned and grabbed at her, well, Annapurna still wasn''t entirely sure what had happened, but the next thing she knew the boy was lying on his back on the floor holding onto his wrist, with Hibiki standing over him.  "I told you not to do that.  If you do it again, I might get angry at you."


    She''d said it in a soft, almost sweet tone, which made it all the more frightening.  If she wasn''t angry this time, and had (probably) broken the older boy''s wrist, what might she do if she were truly upset?   Clearly the boy on the floor had the same thoughts.  He clambered to his feet, stammered an apology to both Hibiki and the smaller boy, then rushed off.


    Annapurna learned later that he''d gone to the infirmary where he had been diagnosed with a sprain.  Fortunately for him it was his right wrist, as he was left handed.  Annapurna wondered if Hibiki had somehow known that he wasn''t right-handed, but she was afraid that knowing might be even more unsettling, so she never asked.


    If those two confusing, contrasting twins weren''t enough, there was Jason Fukui.  He was, to be kind, different.  She''d had a number of students over the years who were restless and had trouble sitting still in the beginning, usually boys.  Jason however took it to extremes.  He''d stand up suddenly and fidget and occasionally even spin in a circle.  Sometimes he''d even flap his hands up and down like a baby bird that was exercising its wings.  Then he''d sit back down and act as if nothing had happened.


    Then there was his behavior toward the other children.  At first he appeared to be arrogant, but, after watching him for the first week, she realized that he was as of yet unable to control what he said.  Whatever he thought came out of his mouth then and there.  Unfortunately it was frequently not exactly flattering to the other students, whom he obviously considered intellectually inferior.


    By the end of class on the second Wednesday of the year, she was in despair as to what to do.  However, the next morning a solution unexpectedly presented itself to the door of her office.


    "Excuse me, Mrs. Abbott.  May we come in?"


    Turning her head, Annapurna beheld Hibiki and Yoko Macklin.  Again, uncharacteristically, it was the more shy twin, Hibiki who had spoken.


    "Of course girls, please do.  What can I do for you?"


    This time it was Yoko who spoke, "We think that we have an answer for the ''Jason problem''."  She followed her statement with an impish grin, after which Hibiki punched her in the arm.


    "Do not speak of him like that Yoko.  You know he is not a ''problem'', rather it is that he is in need of our help."


    Yoko turned to Hibiki and sketched an apology.  Then both faced toward Annapurna and waited.  She''d always been quick on her feet, so there was no delay before she responded, "And what, pray tell, is that?"


    Yoko shrugged.  "It''s simple really.  Move all three of us ta the back of the room.  Put Jason in between us, and let us move our desks so they touch each other.  That should take care of it."


    "That''s it?  That''s going to solve, er, help Jason?"


    Both girls nodded enthusiastically, followed by Hibiki whispering, "And us too."


    Annapurna decided not to try to ferret out the meaning of what Hibiki said.  It was enough that their suggestion, albeit unconventional, was more than she''d come up with, and she was flooded with relief, however premature it might have been.


    She looked at their earnest faces and decided to go along with them.  It was still only the second week of classes.  If it didn''t work out, there were sure to be other options, though at the moment she had no idea what they might be.


    "All right.  I''ll approve it."  The girls'' faces lit up with what Annapurna could only call "boundless joy."  They were also both bouncing up and down on their toes.  She suspected that Yoko might be doing more than that were she able, but Hibiki was holding onto her arm and pulling down firmly.  It was rather amusing seeing Hibiki bouncing and at the same time trying to keep her sister from bouncing "too much."


    Holding up an admonitory hand, Annapurna added, "But only provisionally.  If things don''t work out as you think they will, I can''t approve such an unusual arrangement in the long run.  You''re going to have to prove it works, so I can get the headmaster''s consent."


    She didn''t add her following thought, "Which will keep me from getting into trouble with the other teachers and the other students'' parents for showing favoritism."


    The girls stopped bouncing, nodded seriously, then spun around and ran off down the hall toward the classroom, probably to start moving things.


    Later, when Jason came in through the front door of the classroom and headed toward his usual desk, he was intercepted by the twins.  Each latched onto one arm and gently pulled him to the rear and their new seats.  Annapurna surreptitiously scanned the faces of the other kids in class.  Mostly they showed relief.


    As the day progressed, things worked out better than she had even allowed herself to hope much less to expect.  The twins had arranged things so that Yoko was on his left, and Hibiki on his right.  The first time Jason opened his mouth to make a comment about someone or something, Yoko pulled on his left arm, leaned close, and whispered something to him.  He''d looked puzzled, but he HAD listened.  Then he nodded and settled down.  Miracle number one had occurred.


    Later on in the day, when his fidgeting tended to increase, or worse, resulted in him jumping up and down, Hibiki took his hand and massaged it while leaning toward him and whispering.  Again, he calmed down.  He didn''t entirely stop fidgeting, but there was enough improvement that he was no longer distracting the class.


    At the end of the day, after the children had left, she hurried to headmaster Krait''s office and explained what she''d done and what the result had been.  To her surprise, the headmaster was thrilled.  She''d had a report from Jason''s previous school about his "problems" and had been extremely worried about what would happen.


    Right then and there she wrote up an exception approval for the new seating arrangement and had a discussion about it added to the agenda for the all staff meeting that would take place the next day after school.


    As for the parents of the other students in her class, Annapurna was again surprised.  In the next two weeks she received a number of notes thanking her for improving the atmosphere in the classroom.  Her greatest surprise was that, while most were obviously referring to Jason, several explained that the parents had feared that their children might be bullied by upperclassmen and how pleased they were that Annapurna had so effectively prevented it from happening.  She showed all the notes to the headmaster who scanned them then threw back her head and laughed until she cried.


    Seeing her like that, Annapurna stood unmoving in shock.  She''d NEVER seen the headmaster laugh before.


    When she wound down, she waved Annapurna to a chair.  "I''m sorry, at least somewhat.  This is choice.  I''d been truly worried about Jason, but I see that those Macklin girls have had a salubrious effect in more ways than one."


    Annapurna looked a question at the headmaster who answered, "That first week, when Hibiki ah, shall we say, ''intervened'' in that episode involving her new classmate, has had repercussions.  One of the rather notorious gossips among the students happened to witness the incident.  By the time she got through embellishing it and spread the story around, well, let''s say that nobody in the school would even THINK of picking on one of the children in your class."


    She tried to hold it in, she really did, but Annapurna found herself laughing loud and long.  That set the headmaster off again.


    Several minutes later, when they were repairing their faces, the headmaster said, "So, given these," she pointed to the notes, "and given the results of your ''experiment'', I see no objections arising in the near or even the distant future."


    Annapurna nodded her understanding then excused herself.  One problem down and, if she were right, many to go, like every other year.  She headed back to her office to finish organizing the lesson plan for the next day.

 Ch 24

    September 2nd in The Year 722 After the Founding


    Akane brushed a tiny speck of lint off of Jason''s shoulder.  "There we are.  Now you look perfect."


    "Mother, please, you know I''m not perfect....  Oh, I''m doing it again, aren''t I?"


    "Yes dear, a bit, but you''re getting better."  She tilted her head at him quizzically.  "Do you remember what I told you last year when you were 11?  I said that I love you the way you are.  I meant it then, and I mean it now.  I know how hard it is for you sometimes.  I also know how hard you try to do better.  So don''t worry about it.  Go out there and be you.  The people who really matter will love you as you are, not as they want you to be."


    Jason smiled at her and offered, "You mean Yoko and Hibiki, don''t you?  They''ve always treated me the same as they do everyone else.  Do you think it''s because they''re special too and they understand what it''s like, maybe?


    "I mean, Yoko''s nearly as smart as I am.  She''s about the only person besides Mr. Sanders, the math and science teacher, I can talk to about technical things and not feel like she''s looking at me like I''m some sort of talking bug."


    He sighed contentedly.  "And Hibiki.  I''ve been trying to analyze it since we first talked about it last year, and I still have no idea how she does what she does.  When I get so, I guess the word is ''excited'', that I can''t keep from doing something that I know I shouldn''t, having her near me helps a lot.  When things get really, really bad, she''ll put her hand on mine and it''s like a key fitting into a lock.  Somehow it helps me calm down right away."


    He shook his head.  "Without them I don''t know what I''d do."


    Then he smiled at his mother.  "Now that I think of it, they''re a lot like you, but sorta, I don''t know, split into two people?  I mean you''re smart enough to understand at least the general idea of what I want to say, and you can calm me down too.  But you can''t do that for the rest of my life, or yours.  You think maybe that''s why I met them, to take over for you someday?"


    Akane patted his cheek.  "I don''t know about that dear, we''ll have to wait and see what happens, which is the same thing I told you last year when you were deciding which secondary school you wanted to attend."


    She grinned at him.  "Sometimes I''m a bit like you when it comes to figuring out things like this.  Yoko is indeed, hmm...''energetic'' in a way that seems to compliment you.  Then there''s Hibiki.  Last year it would have embarrassed me to say it, but she helps me calm down too.  She sort of has an aura of peace that surrounds her."


    Jason nodded his agreement, and Akane added, "I was more than surprised when you first told me that she did tea ceremony.  It''s so rare here in Italy that someone is interested in it at all.   The first time I  saw her perform it, I was astonished at her elegance, and she''s improved rapidly since.


    "I think, my son, that you''ve fallen in with some interesting people."  She looked at the clock on the mantle.  "And I think that you''re going to be late for school if you don''t get going."


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    She took hold of his shoulders, turned him around, and patted him in the middle of his back.  "Off you go.  Have a good day."


    Jason looked back over his shoulder.  "I''m off.  I''ll see you after school Mother."


    As he left, he carefully closed the door -- another new thing that Yoko had apparently taught him somehow.  Before last month, he''d always managed to slam it shut, no matter how hard he tried not to.


    Immediately after he left, Akane sat down and brooded.  Fortunately it was a day off for Ingvold so she had plenty of time.  After finding out last year that the lineage behind the twins'' mother ran directly back to Duke Alphonse, the first leader of The City, her attitude toward them had done a 180.  Before that, they''d been "those common girls Jason goes to school with."  She''d seen them with him now and then when he was in primary school, but she hadn''t known, or cared, about what their names were.


    What she was struggling with now was that they hadn''t changed when Akane had found out their family history and that they were descended from royalty.  It was she who had changed after determining that they were the ''right people'' after all.  She''d avoided thinking about it very much since then, but today her guilt finally got the better of her.


    As Jason had taught her, looking at something objectively was the best way to sort out what was real and what was supposition.  Right now she supposed that there was at least a small chance that back then she''d been a stuck-up snob.  She wasn''t, quite, ready to  admit it mind you, but she was willing to think about thinking about it.


    However there were some things that she was ready to fully address and those were Jason''s needs.  He was right in that she wouldn''t always be there to help him.  It was also true that, no matter how hard he tried, he was probably always going to have impulsive behaviors that he couldn''t control completely...which brought her back to the twins.


    She''d grown up in The City, so there was nothing surprising about seeing someone with twins as spouses.  Even so, it had always seemed a bit odd somehow.  However, now that she''d come to know Blair Macklin''s daughters, she was beginning to understand that sometimes that''s how it needed to be.


    She''d had Yoko and Hibiki over to visit within two weeks of receiving the genealogy scroll. She''d been impressed with their decorum and insight.  It was rare that children their age were able to correctly converse with an adult.  As was proper, they mostly listened, but when they did offer a few words, they were always germane to the subject.  Since that first meeting, she''d invited them a number of times.  She''d discovered that Jason was right about Yoko.  Her thirst to discover the truth about history was as intense as Akane''s.


    And Hibiki....  Akane had never, even in her wildest imaginings, thought that she''d meet a true Yamato Nadeshiko outside of Japan, yet here she was.  Were she to be entirely honest with herself, Akane would have had to admit that she was in awe of her.


    After watching them this past year, she''d noticed that they rarely were more than a few feet away from each other.  It often seemed as if they were indeed, as Jason had said, like one person who''d been split into two bodies.  Regardless of the philosophical implications of such an idea, there was one thing that had become absolutely certain.  Neither one of the girls, by herself, was capable of dealing with Jason and all his moods for an extended period of time.  Together though, the three of them acted like a single, smoothly functioning unit.


    She wondered idly what they''d grow into after another 20 or 30 years together.  Fortunately  the odds were good that she''d live at least that long if she took care of herself, so she''d probably be able to see it with her own eyes.  That''s when it hit her.  She was assuming that Jason would marry both of them.  What truly surprised her about her realization was that she was looking forward to it.


    She nibbled at a stray lock of hair that had fallen down onto her cheek.  It looked like it was time to get better acquainted with Blair Macklin.  If things progressed as she had deduced, it would be a "good thing" to have an amicable relationship with her son''s future mother-in-law.


    Sitting down at her desk, she pulled out a piece of her best quality notepaper and began to write.

 Ch 25 Discovering the Bond

    Monday, November 16th in The Year 722 After the Founding


    Blair and Miranda had finished their usual weekly business meeting and were, also as usual, destressing by having tea.  What was not usual was the glint in Blair''s eyes that told Miranda that she had something juicy to share and that in order to hear it Miranda was going to have to beg.  It''s not really a nice word, and not something you''d normally do to your best friend, but sometimes a mischievous spirit would rise up in Blair, and there it would be.


    "All right Blair.  I''m tired, and you''re tired.  Let''s pretend that I''ve abased myself in front of the formidable personage before me and that you''re going to relent and tell me whatever it is.  OK?"


    Blalr took an unladylike slurp of her tea. "Manda sometimes you take all the fun out of things. Do you know that?"


    Miranda looked at her blandly and said nothing.


    Finally Blair relented.  "Oh, all right. You win...this time."   She continued in a conspiratorial tone, "Besides, I''m just dying to share this with someone, and you''re the only one safe to talk to about it."


    Miranda''s right eyebrow twitched.  Though she''d never admit it, perhaps not even to herself, she loved a bit of juicy gossip now and then, as long as it was true, and this sounded promising.


    Blair smiled inwardly.  Ah ha, hooked her!  Now to reel her in.


    "Yesterday, after Hibiki''s tea ceremony class, we went out to lunch with another of the students.  It was for the third time."


    She took a carefully measured sip of her tea.  Shortly thereafter it was her turn to raise an eyebrow.  The timing of these things was important.


    Miranda drawled, "And this is pertinent why?"


    Blair took one more sip then put the teacup down.  It was time to stop fooling around and get down to brass tacks.  She leaned forward and put both her hands on the table between them.  "It''s pertinent because the other student was Akane Fukui."


    That caused both of Miranda''s eyebrows to rise.  She''d never have imagined, even in a nightmare, that Blair and Akane would ever speak to each other except in the icy tones of absolute formality.  Going out to lunch together seemed like a dream, or possibly a nightmare.  At that point, she wasn''t entirely sure which.


    She didn''t pepper Blair with silly phrases like, "You''re joking." or "You''ve got to be kidding."  Both of them were far too busy, and much too intolerant of worthless words for her to say something like that.  Instead Miranda responded, "Has Hell frozen over, or at least had a case of frostbite?"


    Blair laughed.  "That''s so like you Manda.  It''s probably why I like you so much.  You don''t bother with social niceties unless it''s absolutely necessary.  You''re just like Hiroshi says, ''She calls a spade a spade and doesn''t hesitate to point out how much dirt is on it either''."


    Miranda almost choked on her tea.  "No!  He didn''t really say that did he?"


    Blair looked smug and refused to answer.


    When she realized that Blair really wasn''t going to answer, Miranda went back to the previous topic.  "All right, I give up.  How is your having lunch with Akane pertinent?  If you like, you can even skip the reason why you agreed to it in the first place.  You could easily have avoided it without offending her.  Heck, knowing you, you could have refused outright and made it seem like you were doing her a favor."


    Blair began to tick things off on her fingers,


    "Item number one: Her son Jason and my twins are in the same class at Chapman."


    "Item number two: I''m told that the three of them sit with their desks together, in the back of the classroom mind you.  All Day.  Every Day."


    "Codicil to item number two:  They have the permission, not only of their homeroom teacher, but also the headmaster, Jillian Krait."


    "Item number three: After talking with Akane, it has become crystal clear that she''s changed quite a bit and definitely for the better...though I think that she doesn''t realize it yet."


    "Codicil to item number three: Said change is due to her ongoing interaction with the twins and their ongoing interactions with Jason."


    "Item number four....


    Before continuing Blair gave Miranda a truly sympathetic look.


    "Item number four: It has become amply apparent that Eugenia''s chances of getting together with Jason are effectively zero."


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    She smiled gently at Miranda.  "I didn''t mention before that the twins and Jason were also with us at lunch.  He and the girls sat together, with one of them on either side of him.  Each time he began to have trouble, one or the other of them somehow managed to help him stay in control.  I was surprised to find out that he has some interesting things to say.  He''s not at all like the ''behavior problem'' he was when they were in primary school.


    "What''s truly surprising about the whole thing is that their seating arrangement in class has...I guess ''evolved'' is the word I want.  The first week and a half the three of them sat normally, meaning with their desks in line with all the others and in different areas of the classroom.  The second Thursday was when they all moved to the back.  The girls also moved their desks so that they are up against Jason''s.  And that''s not all.  Their chairs are scooted over to where their upper arms are touching his."


    She nodded at Miranda''s wide-eyed expression of understanding.  "Indeed.  Almost the entire time they''re in the classroom the three of them are in physical contact.  It''s exactly like those exceedingly rare situations where twins need to touch each other almost constantly, though in this case it''s like they were triplets.


    "I''ve talked to their homeroom teacher and to the headmaster, to make sure that there aren''t going to be problems with the other students, their parents, or other teachers.  I was nearly overwhelmed by their effusive reassurance that every single one of those involved or even mildly interested considers this one of those cases of "that''s the way it is."  After the third week of the term, not a single person has mentioned the arrangement to either of them other than with either pleasure or gratitude.


    Her throat was getting a bit dry, so she took another sip of tea.  "Akane told me at tea two weeks ago that starting about the end of the third week Jason''s behaviors at home had become much more under his control, and he''s much less likely to be so, let''s say ''frank'' when talking about other people.


    "It may be premature to say this, what with the girls being 13 and Jason being 12, but, even so, I''m entirely certain that the only way you''re ever going to be able to separate them is when they die."


    Miranda dabbed at her eyes with her handkerchief, which prompted Blair to do likewise.  She hadn''t realized how emotional she''d become.


    "An impeccable analysis Blair, but the situation may also be useful to us.  Do you mind if I pass along the basic facts to Paolo and Sara?  The past few months they''ve become rather passionate about making sure that twins in The City are ''properly supported''.  I''m not entirely sure what that means, but I suspect that hearing about this will help them with whatever it is they''re working on."


    Blair nodded approval.  "Please do.  It''s fine that the children are accepted in their school, but that won''t automatically translate into the community, even here.  A little outside assistance, especially before a problem arises, would be welcome."


    Miranda nodded back.  "I''ll see to it then."


    After a few seconds, she continued,  "I think it would be advantageous for me to become acquainted with Akane as well.  She has contacts in the immigrant community as a whole that I don''t.  That could be useful."


    Blair laughed.  "That''s my Manda.  Always thinking about work."


    "Hah!  As if you''re any different.  I''d bet a hundred ducats that you would have brought it up if I hadn''t."


    Miranda found herself looking at Blair''s stuck-out tongue.  "Spoilsport.   You''re right of course.  I would have.  Besides, it might be nice to have tea with three instead of two, at least occasionally.  Let''s give it a go and see how things fall out."


    Miranda nodded again, then they lapsed into the silence of their own thoughts.  As usual life was becoming a bit more interesting...and more complicated.


    --------------------


    Genie didn''t remember going home, or even entering her room.  Her shock was far too great for such mundane things to affect her consciousness.  The only thing she remembered, which was repeating itself over and over in her mind, was Blair Macklin saying: "It has become amply apparent that Eugenia''s chances of getting together with Jason are effectively zero."


    She''d been practicing her "no see, no hear" skill by eavesdropping on her mother and Blair.  If she''d been caught she''d have been in a world of hurt, though, had they  been discussing something sensitive, she''d have left immediately.  She had at least that much sense.


    However what she did hear was more than enough.  After stressing over it for an hour or so, she decided that the unverified word of the mother of her rivals, no matter who that mother was and how unlikely she was ever to lie, needed confirmation.  Thus it was that the next day she went to school only long enough to plead a bad headache and ask permission to go home.  As she was a diligent student, with no record of prevarication, she was granted permission to leave.


    As promised, she did go home.  There she told Ailin, the senior maid, that she was going to her room to sleep and not to disturb her.  After giving things time to settle down, she invoked her ability and made her way to Chapman.  It helped that she knew the physical layout of the school and the schedule intimately.  She contrived to be outside the appropriate classroom for first-year students about four minutes before the next teacher would rotate in.


    When he entered, so did she.  She parked herself a meter or so inside the door and looked around carefully.  Unfortunately, at least part of what Blair said was immediately confirmed.  The three in question were at the back of the room, and they were indeed sitting with their desks together.  It was also true that nobody was paying the least attention to them, not the other students and not the teacher.


    The teacher cleared his throat and upon receiving the attention of the class, he began his lesson.  That was when things got rather unpleasant for Genie.  As soon as he began speaking, Yoko and Hibiki leaned toward Jason until their shoulders were touching.  Occasionally when he started to act irritated or fidgety, one or the other of them would get his attention and whisper something to him.  Each time he settled down, not always completely, but enough that he didn''t interfere with class.


    After 10 minutes she''d seen enough, but she had to wait until class was over and they broke for lunch before she could leave.  Seeing a door open and close by itself would have resulted in questions that could only lead back to her.  She didn''t relish what Mrs. Macklin or her mother would do to her should that happen.


    Once class ended, she left, went home, and then straight to bed.  Now she really did have a headache.  Somehow she''d ruined things again, just as she had before, by being too pushy about her feelings.  As she drifted off to sleep the thought came to her, "Again?"  What was that all about?  Before she could pursue it she was asleep and, thankfully, dreaming of nothing at all.

 Ch 26 Breakthrough

    During lunch the trio sat as usual, with Jason flanked by the twins, who were having a private conversation. There was something that Eugenia didn''t know. For that matter nobody knew, not even the twins until today. 700 years earlier, Lily''s and Raven''s abilities in the realm of magic had never seemed significant enough for anyone to make a written record of them...though there was also the possibility that the Duke had made sure that they weren''t recorded due to how he used them. What one could say with certainty was that when it came to the area of personal invisibility blood ran true.


    After looking around to be sure that nobody was watching them, and that Jason was engrossed in his lunch, Yoko asked, "Did ya see her? What was she doing here?"


    "Yes, of course I saw her. We are identical twins. It makes sense that we would have the same abilities. She was all blurry around the edges. I had to stop looking at her after a couple of minutes as it was giving me a headache!"


    Yoko answered excitedly, "Me too. I did too!"


    Hibiki nodded and continued, "As for what she was doing, I have no idea, except that she was staring at us for at least 10 minutes. After that she was mostly looking at the ceiling."


    "I know. I know. But starting about then, she looked like she was really sad."


    Hibiki rested her chin on her palm. "Now that you mention it, she did look most unsettled. I wonder what the cause was."


    They paused to consider, and to get started on lunch. They only had so long to eat and such before classes resumed. In the interlude, a masculine voice interjected, "Yeah. She really did look pretty down. I''m fairly sure it had something to do with what happened at the wedding reception, when she was all over trying to change me, and you two were standing behind the buffet looking like you wanted to kill her."


    Hibiki and Yoko did perfect, mirror-image spit takes, spewing milk for some distance. Fortunately, nobody was sitting directly across from them, though at the sound half the people in the room turned to look at them. What they saw was Jason calmly working on his lunch and both the girls frantically cleaning up the "spilled" milk.


    Jason continued, "I never have been able to figure out why you were looking at her like that. She''s irritating, but she''s not all THAT bad. Now that I think about it, she''s a bit like me. I believe the phrase is ''socially inept''. She does mean well...actually, so do I. But she doesn''t have anyone to help her when she''s about to do something ''inappropriate''. It''s sorta sad when you look at it that way."


    When they''d finished putting things back in order they rounded on him. "What in the world?! How''d you do that? Only twins can talk like this! What the heck is going on?"


    Jason continued placidly, now munching on his salad, "Why are you acting like me? I mean, what you just did is what you''re always telling me not to do."


    He stopped chewing and swallowed. "Does that mean that it''s OK to act that way sometimes? If it is, I really don''t understand how you tell when it is and it isn''t. Will you tell me, please?"


    The girls each took several slow, deep breaths. Then they leaned up against him, each holding tightly to one of his sleeves. For once they weren''t leaning shoulder-to-shoulder. Rather they had half-turned and had their chests pressed against his arms.


    "You first." "No you first." "Oh all, right I''ll start."


    "Jason, it''s not all right to do that normally, or even rarely, it''s just that you...no, not that... we were very surprised. We''ve never heard of anyone but twins being able to talk to each other in their heads this way. Even other twins in the same family can''t do it.


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    "Does that help you understand why we were so startled?"


    Jason finished his salad and started in on an apple. "This apple is pretty good. You might want to eat yours before lunch is over."


    Seeing two faces, each less than 30 centimeters away from his, glaring at him intently enough to strip old paint off the side of a building, he thought about it for a second and came to the proper conclusion. "Oh I see. I should answer your questions first when they''re that important to you instead of talking about lunch. Is that right?"


    Both girls nodded vigorously, their long, black hair bouncing up and down on their backs.


    "All right. Well, for about two weeks now I''ve heard this kind of buzzing in my head whenever we''re about to go to lunch or when we get ready to take a quiz or test in class. It always stops when the test starts though. Now that I think of it, those are the only times you move your desks apart from mine and back to the way the other kids have theirs. I wonder why that is...."


    Seeing the glares start back up he continued, "But I suppose you can tell me that later, right?"


    More energetic nodding.


    "OK, well, anyway, after a few days the buzzing noise changed and it started to sorta sound like someone talking, but real high pitched, like maybe when a soprano hits a high C. I concentrated real hard whenever I heard it, and last week I started to be able to make out some of the words. That''s when I realized that it was the two of you.


    "Did you know that your voices sound the same as when you''re talking out loud? I really wonder why that is and, uh, right, well, getting back to the subject. I''ve been trying to figure out how to do it too, and today I did!"


    He frowned slightly. "But I can''t tell you exactly how I figured it out or what I did to make it work, but I know I can, cause you answered me!"


    He smiled proudly, inviting them to compliment him. He didn''t do things that anyone considered praiseworthy all that often, so he was hopeful that he''d done something right this time.


    The girls smiled at each other, nodded, stood up, bent forward, and each kissed him on the cheek.


    "Yes Jason, we''re very proud of you."


    "You did very well."


    Hibiki sat down and put on her thinking face. "But I think it would be best if we did not inform anyone else yet. We probably should tell our mothers, and Paolo''s mother -- eventually -- but not until we explore this further. Agreed?"


    Yoko nodded vigorously again, and Jason also nodded but rather more slowly. He didn''t understand why they didn''t want to tell anyone right away, but by then he''d come to rely on their judgement in most social situations, and he considered this something in that field. Consequently he''d go along with their suggestion, though he did intend to ask for a full explanation eventually. After all, he couldn''t do better if he didn''t know why he should, or shouldn''t, do things.


    He was pleased that, like his mother, they almost never got mad at him when he asked what he learned later were really stupid questions or after he said something that upset the person he was talking to. He knew he was smart. Actually he knew that he was exceptionally smart. Maybe this social stuff didn''t come naturally to him like it seemed to for other people, but, surely, he was smart enough to memorize how to deal with most situations.


    When things came up that he hadn''t learned yet, he could now ask one of the girls. It was a great relief for him, knowing that he could talk to them without saying anything out loud. That way, if what he wanted to know would make him sound stupid if he asked out loud in front of other people, he could ask them privately and not be embarrassed afterwards.


    All-in-all he was well pleased. He''d learned something new today. That didn''t happen much at school. In some subjects he already knew more than the teachers. He hoped that he''d keep learning new things, lots of them. With that happy thought in his mind, he joined the girls and headed back to class.


    INTERLUDE


    "Lady Blue" made doubly, triply certain that her shields around the room were as strong as she had ever made them. Then she shouted, "YAHOO!" and began bouncing around the room, as in off the walls, the ceiling, the floor, and whatever else there was to bounce off of.


    "Breakthrough!!!" After over 700 years it had finally happened. Someone other than a twin had learned to intentionally speak mind-to-mind. One of THE most important parts of her plan had finally come to fruition.


    After several more minutes of celebratory bounces, she settled herself down. While it was an important event, there were hundreds, no...thousands more that still needed to occur. She needed to calm down and get on with the work.


    But first she wrapped her arms around herself and gave herself a big hug. Maybe it was nothing more than one single step along a path leading into an indefinite future, but it was super, uber important.


    That night she fell asleep easily and slept like a baby, probably for the first time in at least four millennia.

 Ch 27 - End of Semester Review

    Ptica shuffled her papers together, stuck them in her briefcase, then addressed the class: "Well, that''s it for Applied Sociology VII this year. Even after teaching this class for 117 years, I still enjoy watching the performances. For those of you who want to learn more, and won''t have a panic attack when you realize that I''m also the only instructor for Applied Sociology VIII, it will be offered next semester. For now good-bye."


    With that she stalked out of the classroom, leaving many beings in her wake sighing with relief, as well as some with speculative looks on their faces.


    ----------------------


    Two days later Ptica was interrupted by a knock on her door. She wondered how many there would be this time.


    She shut off her monitor and holographic displays, then made sure that her vocal limiter was firmly in place. Having any kind of leakage in the confines of her office could knock a sensitive being unconscious. (Which had happened a time or two in her first decade at the university.)


    "Enter."


    A full hand of seven trooped in, and she waved them to seats. She watched as they sorted themselves out. This itself was part of the test. She was pleased to notice that several of them looked carefully around the room with questioning glances. Her "office" was as large as a small classroom and had seating for at least one of every species that attended the university.


    She was surprised to see that two of the students were ones who had barely passed the course, each with a score of exactly 80% on two or more tests. One of the others was the Qalla, a species that was off their home planet so rarely that personal names were not used elsewhere. All were called "Qalla" by other species. Most of them were also so shy that it was almost pathologic. That made it even stranger that she would associate with others at all, much less come here where she might get personal attention from a fearsome full professor.


    Well, that''s what this screening was all about. Some of the most useful were.... Bah, no wool-gathering allowed. "And what is it that I can do for you all? I assume that since you''ve waited two days you''ve decided on your questions and your spokesbeing?"


    She was again surprised when the huge, slow-moving, and thus generally considered slow-witted, Hrath stood and spoke in a deep voice that had a bit of an echo. "As for that Professor, yes we have. We''ve had discussions off and on during the course and have done considerable research, both then and even more so in the past two days.


    "We all found the course presentations to be extremely interesting and instructive. The cultures implied and implicit were fascinating. Requiring us to analyze the underpinnings of these ''artificially created'' cultures as a means of increasing our understanding of what the term ''culture'' truly means has enriched us all. The acting skills of those performing in them were exquisite, as well as the computer graphics used for the settings...which are what led us to our conclusions and our question."


    It turned to its classmates, who all nodded back, then it turned back to the professor. "Therefore our conclusions, while unanimous, required a great deal of research to confirm. We have, quietly and thoroughly -- so as not to arouse suspicions in the experts we consulted -- studied video and even single pixels from several hundred of the scenes that were presented during the course.


    "Our conclusion is simple. These were not superb actors portraying roles assigned to them for the purposes of this course. There were no computer graphic backgrounds. Contrary to what you said the first day of class, this was in no way a simulation. What we saw were recordings made of real beings living their real lives, and that is what boggles our minds, so to speak.


    "If that is true, then what we saw was surveillance video. If that is true, why were they being watched, and what was so important that justified the incredible effort and expense required to obtain and preserve these records from time periods that were approximately 1800 and 1100 years in our past?


    "Well, ah, that''s our question, or I suppose to be more accurate, our questions." It looked around nervously then sat.


    Professor Ptica watched them for almost a full minute, seeing anxiety, some fear, and, most important of all, intense curiosity on all their faces. They''d put in an incredible amount of work to pull the images and have them analysed. She knew because all computer searches containing certain key words were monitored while Applied Sociology VII was being taught. This group had been unusually deft, and she suspected that it was the Qalla who was responsible. The most highly sophisticated queries, and the most difficult to monitor, had come from her devices.


    Ptica peered at them intently. "I see. I did indeed promise to answer questions after the end of the course, and I didn''t specify that they had to make sense."


    That prompted a definite spike in anxiety among her "guests." Her species wasn''t one to torment others, so she continued quickly, "Fortunately for us all, yours DO make sense. A great deal of sense, seeing as your conclusions are entirely accurate.


    "Now, if there''s nothing else?"


    The students huddled for a few minutes, during which the professor looked on benignly, at least as much as a predatory species like hers could.


    "Yes ma''am, there is something else. Since we''ve established the veracity of the original video records, there''s something else we''d planned to ask. It was easy to identify the planet upon which these events took place. Specifically one referred to as ''Earth'' in the Sol system. We checked out the history of the appropriate area called "Italy." There was never such a place as The City of The Bells.


    "That has us at least as puzzled and curious as did the original matter. If not in our ''verse, or the other four parallel universes of which we are cognizant, where was it?"


    Had she been alone the professor would have been jumping up and down and possibly breaking out a few windows with her shouts of joy. However, she wasn''t alone, and the university had been wroth with her the last time she damaged the building. Therefore she managed to restrain her reaction.


    She did decide to let out some emotion though and asked somewhat scathingly, "I see that you at least, and possibly all of you, have missed something important. In fact I think it is more fitting to call it critically important.


    Turning to one of the others in the group, Ptica asked, "I''m especially disappointed in you Camir. You''re in the Department of Applied Physics, are you not?"


    Her target responded anxiously, "Yes professor, that is correct. What...."


    Ptica sighed theatrically. Might as well put on a good show. "Are you certain that you are a regular student and not someone pretending to know something about physics? Don''t you recall that the "Temporal Engineers" reached back in their time and worked to establish The City? And do you not also know what happens when you make a change in your past history?"


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    Camir stood, threw back his head and shoved his arms above his head. Then he gave out with a great bellow. (Well, it was for his species. To all the others it sounded like a rather high-pitched squeak, but one must make allowances in such a multi-species environment. Suffice it to say that they all understood that it was his species'' way of saying, "I''ve been a stupid idiot!")


    "I can''t believe that I missed it. I''m SO SORRY professor!"


    "Fine, be sorry, but if you wish to stop being thought of as an idiot, you might explain it to your fellows. You''re the only physics major in the room."


    Camir turned to the others and waved both arms in a complicated gesture meaning, "Sorry everyone. My bad."


    "What Professor Ptica is referring to is the, well, it''s called by many names. It''s been hypothesised by many researchers on many planets. In a nutshell, it means that if you change the past, even in a minute detail, it causes the creation of another universe. A separate timeline splits off from that point and continues independently from the first. It''s frequently called the "splinter universe hypothesis."


    "Of course, nobody can do that. Go into the past at all I mean. So.... Why are you looking at me like that?"


    Surprisingly it was the Qalla who answered him, in a quiet, and somewhat tremulous voice, but still clearly, "During one ov her presentations, the Provessor clearly stated that Lady Blue was the one being in the universe that she was certain ov who could move around in time. It was also clearly stated that she created that ''verse."


    She turned to Ptica, "Is that not correct provessor?"


    Ptica simply nodded. "The question of the moment is this: Now that you have confirmation of your suspicions, what do you intend to do about it?"


    They spent some time exchanging wordless looks. None of them had truly thought beyond this moment. How could they seeing as the scenario they''d envisioned was in itself so incredibly unlikely?


    Ptica raised a wing-hand to get their attention. "I don''t expect you to answer right now. I am however going to show you a brief video that was not part of the regular course material. After you see it, knowing that it really happened and is not a fabrication, you''ll have more than enough to think about for the next decade or so while you finish your degrees.


    "If you wish to pursue this further, you may contact me. I must admonish you though. You are not EVER to discuss what you have just learned and what you will shortly see with anyone, not even each other, unless you come back here and do it in my office. It''s the only place in the entire university with enough shielding to prevent all known methods of eavesdropping and visual surveillance.


    "Should you fail to comply with this restriction, you will be expelled with an official reason of either being convicted of morals violations or security breaches, whichever your species considers most heinous. You may then tell anyone whatever you wish. Nobody who matters will believe a disgraced criminal."


    Seeing total shock on the students faces, and, in Qalla''s case a med-bot administering treatment due to her having fainted, she added, "Though I doubt that possibility. You wouldn''t have come here today after taking such stringent precautions in your research if you intended to divulge anything."


    Qalla responded rapidly to treatment and resumed her seat.


    "If you''re all ready, I''ll present the video. It''s short, but sometimes the most important events in the ''verse take place in a matter of moments.


    "What you''re about to see is part of the record of when one of the major players in Lady Blue''s ''Project'' was recruited."


    Playback Engaged:


    "OK. So here''s the deal. We want you for a clandestine project. It''s going to require a commitment of about 1,500 years, spread out over several lifetimes on two planets. Don''t worry if you''re somehow discovered during the first phase. The planet will be instantaneously vaporized by the enemy. Neither you nor the billion or so beings living on it will feel a thing.


    "The planet for phase two has protections in place, so, once you get there, you and your team will be the only ones at risk of obliteration.


    "Who''s in charge of the project? Don''t worry about that. She has a lot of experience. She may be a bit on the young side, so to speak, and she does have a rather warped sense of humor, but don''t worry. I''m told that she''ll grow out of it.


    "How young? She''s actually not quite hit puberty yet. But don''t worry. She''s highly qualified.


    "Who told me that? Uh...well...she did. She said that if I didn''t tell you what she said she''d.... No, never mind. I don''t want to even think about it.


    "Moving right along then. What''s your next question?


    "Security? Of course we''ll have it. Nothing better exists anywhere in our multiverse cluster. We''re going to seal your memories of who and what you all are until the project is complete. That way there''s absolutely no chance of a leak.


    "Really! You didn''t have to break the chair. It never did anything to you! Oh, I see. It was either that or break me. Excellent choice. I knew there was a good reason to include you in the project.


    "No, wait, don''t leave! I was saving the best for last. Just one more thing, then you can go if you must. Please?


    "Sure, I''ll make it fast. The one you''ve had a secret crush on these past 200 years has already agreed to participate. If you join, you''ll be together nearly every day for the duration of the project.


    "Excellent! We''re glad to have you on board. I guarantee that you won''t regret your decision...since you won''t remember making it.


    "What did I just say? Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. I was just talking to myself. Truly...."


    Once She''d left, he turned to his communicator and made a call.  After it connected, he said, "Well, that was the last of them.  Neither the hardest or easiest to convince, but it still amazes me that anyone would even think about thinking about going along with such a crazy idea."  He flinched and then hastily added, "Not that it isn''t a WONDERFUL idea as well!"


    The being on the other end of the call smiled.  "Don''t worry little one, it IS a "crazy idea", but, that''s what makes it more likely to work. The enemy would never in a billion years think that he might be attacked from this angle, and, since everything that remains to be set in place will take less than another two thousand  years or so, we actually have a chance to pull it off."


    "That being said, there''s only one loose end left to wrap up."


    "Oh, what''s that My Lady?"  He blinked then said to himself, "Now, where was I?  Oh right, I have an appointment at the Ambassador''s Club in an hour.  I''d better get going."


    --------------


    Ptica stopped the recording and stared at her students. This time it wasn''t that she wanted to intimidate them but rather than she wanted their full and serious attention.


    Satisfied, she spoke slowly and clearly, "Once again let me remind you that you are not to discuss what you just saw with anyone unless it is here in my office.


    "Before you ask, or think to ask, there is one other topic that, while not directly related to your course-work you are not even to THINK about unless I am present."


    She cleared her throat, gently. It wouldn''t do to break the dampener at such an important time. "Eventually you would have come to realize that none of your classmates have ever mentioned that they had even the slightest idea that what you saw in class might really have occurred. All I shall say at this point is that if they were to discuss the possibility in public, there could be serious...no, disastrous repercussions.


    "Why that would be true, and what has been done to prevent such discussions.... Consider that your homework.


    "For now, farewell. I''m sure that we will discuss this, and other topics, in the future."


    -----------------------


    After the students had left, each in a temporary state of emotional numbness, the professor returned to her desk and activated the video on one piece of equipment that had, to that point, only had the audio channel engaged.


    "Well, what do you think?"


    "To tell the truth I wish that there had been more of them, but, I say that every time, don''t I? We always need at least three times the personnel we have.


    "Overall, I must say that each of them is a bit above the level of your average recruits.


    "You will make sure that the academically marginal ones receive adequate tutoring so they don''t flunk out?"


    Ptica glared at Grgur, who flushed with embarrassment and mumbled, "Can we please pretend that I didn''t say anything that stupid?"


    Ptica glared a bit longer then relented. "Very well, but you''d better promise to get that slippery tongue under better control. Paolo had excellent control by the time he was 30. You''re almost 20 times his age. You''d think that you''d be doing better by now, even if you''re only a young adult as your species counts such things."


    Grgur nodded compliance. "Assuming that things go as usual after you teach Applied Sociology VIII, I''ll start my next class in about four or five years -- as soon as we have enough prospects from the various worlds assigned to me to make it worthwhile. No matter how it turns out, things will likely be interesting."


    It shrugged its shoulders. "In the world we agents live in, things always are."

 Ch 28 - Everything and the Kitchen Sink

    Comments:


    Birth Control


    Some may think it absurd for me to talk about contraceptives existing as early as 100 BF (About 580 AD). However, effective herbal contraceptives have been known for longer than that. Recent research has shown that compounds in the aloe plant and Thunder God Vine are highly effective contraceptives at extremely low concentrations.


    In particular, Thunder God Vine has been used for many centuries in traditional Chinese medicine. However, if not prepared properly, the leaf extract can be toxic, thus my mention of "safe" contraceptives not being invented until approximately 700 AF. By then processing techniques were uniform and toxicity was no longer an issue.


    FUN


    You''re going to find that I refer to things being "a lot of fun" or something similar fairly frequently. It isn''t because I can''t think of anything else or because I''m lazy (though I admit that I can be a bit at times). The reason is because I truly believe that a life where you don''t make time to play, or where you don''t find something to enjoy about what you do is, to some degree, wasted. So go out there and have "a lot of fun" now and then. It''s good for you!


    Marriage in Medieval and Modern Times:


    You may have found yourself surprised or even shocked when you saw at what young ages couples got together here. Please be assured that, no matter how odd it seems, it was not all that unusual, not only in the eras in which our stories take place but throughout history.


    As late as 2010, (the latest data I have access to) in the United States, girls as young as 10 were still being forced into marriage by court order in multiple states. As of late 2017, there are still no laws preventing such in many states. Multiple state legislatures have refused to pass appropriate laws preventing such "legal" child rape, and one governor recently vetoed legislation that would have banned marriage of underage girls.


    Oregon is one of the more progressive states. No one under 17 can be married.


    In some parts of the world, betrothals of pre-school children are ongoing in the 21st century. "Religious" marriages still take place when girls are as young as nine or 10, with the legal ceremony delayed till the minimum age allowed for actual marriage in whichever country the girl finds herself trapped. As of the time of this writing, the minimum age for a girl to be married in Iran was still 13 (15 for boys), which is better than in the 25 US states which have no lower age limit at all.


    Arranged marriages still occur in much of the world, and the results are pretty much as described herein.


    APPENDICES:


    (These contain important information from Protessor Ptica''s classes.)


    "The valley in which The City of the Bells sits is the caldera of an ancient, extinct, super volcano. It is 18 km from east to west, and 24 km from north to south. A good part of the southern rim collapsed and wore away long ago, which is why there is such excellent access to the rest of Italy.


    "The city is built on the remains of a large shield volcano that formed in the caldera some million or so years after the last major eruption. It is almost centered in the valley on an east-to-west axis, but it is situated only seven kilometers from the northern rim.


    "The newer volcano has also eroded to the point that it is now nothing more than the gentle rise on which The City is built. The hot spring in the middle of The City that resulted from the "miracle" explosion that resulted in The Founding continues to flow due to natural forces. The explosion caused by Lady Blue cracked open the earth and allowed water that had been capped by a solid layer of basalt to gush forth. In the beginning it was superficial water that emerged, thus it was only the temperature of a pleasant bath. Over the generations, deeper water has been forced up, and it is now almost scalding at the surface. A substantial iron fence, which is protected by an "anti-rust" spell, has been built entirely around the hot spring to keep inquisitive animals, and humans, from being burned.


    "The shield volcano is nearly circular and is just over four km across. The top is almost perfectly flat and is a bit over 500 meters in diameter. There is an extension of basalt 110 meters wide extending 120 meters to the north-northeast. It is on this that the Ducal Residence and the Guard barracks are built.


    "All inns with stables, and all livestock trading pens, are now located around the periphery of The City, between the New City Wall and the Outer Ring Road. The Perrine River runs down the east side of the valley and curves to the west just south of The City, thus the need for the bridge that Nico helped rebuild when we were learning about Johann, Lily, and Raven.


    "The pipes channeling excess water from the hotspring empty into the river approximately 140 meters south and west of the southern edge of The City. The sewer pipes enter large, manmade marshes about half a kilometer further south, thus there is some significant biological filtration of the sewage before the water enters the river.


    "Like many in early medieval times, and unfortunately in modern times as well, the people of The City had no further concern about the sewage. The main reason that the marshes were constructed was to reduce the smell when the breezes flowed from the south toward The City. A secondary benefit was the ability to hunt waterfowl around the edges of the marshlands.


    "At that time, nobody had yet made the connection between bacteria and disease. For that matter, they didn''t even know that bacteria existed. All the people knew was that sewage smelled bad, not that it caused illness.


    "Daily bathing had become habitual shortly after The Founding, and diseases were consequently much reduced. The contribution of certain elements in the water to the health of the community has, even now, not been discovered by the inhabitants. It is only known that it somehow substantially increases the chances of a woman bearing twins and speeds the healing of wounds and diseases.


    "As for their drinking water, it comes from high mountain streams via aqueducts. It is cleaner than water from the river but not something that I''d want to drink straight. The people have long assumed that water of itself can somehow cause disease unless it is boiled. That is the reason why even children who were recently weaned drank small beer when tea was not available. Those who didn''t tended not to survive.


    "(No, they didn''t drink milk until about half way through primary school and even then only at lunch on school days. For reasons still unknown it never caught on. Most milk produced was used to make cheese, the vast majority of which was made from goat or sheep milk. Cattle never became popular as a milk or meat source on Earth VI.


    "Seven kilometers south of The City is where you can find Warehouse Row. Many merchants and companies store merchandise there, whether destined for the north, or for the trading centers of the south. The location was chosen for three reasons.


    1) The road leading to The City is an excellent all-weather road.


    2) Three kilometers south of the southern rim of the caldera the north-south road intersects one of the east-west King''s Highways.


    3) One kilometer south of Warehouse Road, and a half kilometer to its west, is a major garrison of the King''s army. It is a training site for light calvary and skirmishers of all kinds. There is adequate flat land for practicing maneuvers in groups, but also enough rough ground and forested land between the garrison and the south rim of the caldera to allow for practicing tactics used in hilly and wooded areas.


    "Part of the garrison''s job is to patrol the warehouses. At any given time there are at least a dozen troopers making their rounds, even in the middle of the night. Goods stored there are safer than anywhere else in the entire country.


    -----------------


    "Raven''s recurring nightmares, as well as her fear of becoming violent toward others, and even her inability to cry, were the result of what is now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In the minds of the public, it is most often associated with those who have seen service in a combat zone. It can however be found in survivors of major disasters such as earthquakes or typhoons. In fact, any kind of severe emotional trauma can trigger it, and, as with Raven, it can persist for years, or decades.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    -------------------


    "Jason, and to a lesser extent Eugenia, had what would now usually be called "High Functioning Autism," she being less affected than he. An older term with a similar scope was "Asperger''s Syndrome." By the time you read this, the terminology may have changed yet again.


    ------------------


    "The City of The Bells, is located at the confluence of two mountain passes that run roughly to the north-northeast and the west-northwest of The City. In fact they are the only two truly passable trade routes from the Northlands for more than 100 kilometers in either direction. When you also consider that the road to the south was not only well maintained, but well patrolled by the King''s Garrison that was stationed only seven kilometers to the southwest of The City, I''m sure you can imagine the result. The City was crowded with merchants and goods that had come via the northern routes from all over Northern Europe but also likewise with those from all around the Mediterranean and Asia that were destined for northern lands.


    "As a result, The City was awash with money, something that certain covetous people had long been aware of. Naturally, people being people, over the past 400 years or so several groups of them had gathered, in numbers from dozens to well over a thousand, and had decided to relieve those in The City of their excess wealth.


    "None of the attackers had included two specifics in their calculations. Because of the effects of the bells on any stone and wood structures that were, shall we say, less than substantial, the walls of The City were a ridiculous (for anywhere else) four meters thick and the gates were in sets of three, all made of steel bound, aged oak.


    "That alone dissuaded a number of potential attackers when their spies reported back on The City''s defenses. Of course, greed being what it is, a few of the largest and most motivated bands, who truly had what could be called a small army, took note not only of the walls, but also of the fact that the total garrison averaged only about 200 men and women, most of whom served primarily as the local police, and only secondarily as a militia. The only permanent military force was the Ducal Guard, and they always numbered no more than 60.


    "Upon hearing their spies'' reports, the leaders plotted and planned, then attacked. Or at least they tried to. Had they know how predictable they were, they might have reconsidered. But they didn''t know, so they didn''t reassess their plans. They would charge out of the woods right as the sun rose, hoping to surprise the garrison when their vision was impaired and, indeed, as they approached, they would see that no effort was being made to close the gates. In fact there was no sign of any activity around The City at all. This wasn''t, as they supposed, a lack of preparedness, but rather it was a manifestation of The City''s gleeful anticipation.


    "You simply could not move a thousand, or even a group of a hundred men and horses and supply wagons and such through a mountain pass without one of The City''s forward scouts spotting you and passing the information along to their twins. All you can say is: ''well duh!'' I can imagine that even you literature majors have figured out what The City did.


    "Indeed, you are correct. Each time, as the invaders came within a hundred meters of the gate, The City unleashed its most potent weapon. A few minutes later, a wave of people, lead by the Guard, descended upon the "battlefield" and confiscated everything of value: weapons, money, clothes, horses, and whatever else they could find. Afterwards the surviving attackers were sold to whomever needed hands for their ships or mines or farms. Such always fetched a good price as the law forbade slavery except when the alternative was death -- and intent to murder, rape, and pillage always resulted in a death sentence.


    "The only actual deaths were among those who had landed badly when falling off their horses when the bells rendered them unconscious, and any surviving leaders of the attacking army, who were always executed.


    "In the few cases where there had been men left behind to watch the supply wagons, contingents of the Guard, bolstered by a squad or two from the Militia, circled around behind them, marched in, and captured both the men and their supplies. All in all, each attack significantly aided the economy.


    "What eventually caused even the most greedy to abandon thoughts of invading was not only the fact that The City had repelled all attacks. What truly had them shaking in their boots was that, as best anyone in the North could tell, their armies had simply disappeared. Not one single soldier ever came back. That was unimaginably worse than, oh, say, a few wounded men staggering home with tales of total defeat. If he hadn''t received word of such unsettling events, it is highly likely that Charlemagne might have tried invading Italy.


    "Greed is part of the human psyche though, and there were still northerners who wanted at least some of The City''s money. After thinking about it for a few years, or decades, various groups decided that the old phrase, "If you can''t beat them, join them" would be appropriate. Thereafter they slipped into The City intending to fleece the citizens by setting up crooked gambling operations.


    "Alas for them, they failed again. What they found was a flourishing, HONEST, community of bookies and a half-dozen casinos. These ran the gamut from someone who operated only on a single street in a semi-professional way, to various gaming houses catering to any and all from the poor to the very wealthy.


    "From almost the very beginning of The City, the various dukes and duchesses had realized that there was a great deal of money to be made from gambling, and they had regulated it strictly. Each casino had a full time Ducal Inspector in residence, and even the bookmakers were organized. The Duke''s taxes were fixed, as they had been for hundreds of years, at 3% of gross wagers and payouts.


    "In time the chance to gamble without being cheated or robbed became almost as big a tourist attraction as the churches. Considering the astoundingly large amounts of money in The City, a substantial number of thieves gravitated to it, but none lasted long. Most of those from out of town expected a fine if they were caught, or that they could bribe a guard in the worst case, but the actuality was far beyond what they imagined.


    "A first-time offender spent a year at hard labor. The very rare "three time loser" spent the rest of his or her life working for the Duchy in one way or another. A guard caught taking a bribe was never given the opportunity to repeat their mistake. The penalty for a guard''s first offense was life on the road gangs."


    Ptica ruffled her feathers. "That should be an adequate introduction to gambling in The City. Let''s move along.


    "Next I''ll answer your question as to why Emil starts out using "yards," "feet," and "rods" for measurements, while in Sara and Paolo''s time the metric system is used. The reason is simple. He used the units of measure that he was familiar with. The metric system hadn''t been invented yet.


    "In the time period where our story begins, a woman in Europe had about a 10% lifetime risk of dying during or immediately after childbirth. It was substantially higher for those having children in their early teens. As many as half of all children died before they were a year old. Even in the late 20th century, the death rate in infancy in some areas of the world approached 70%. In parts of Africa, children weren''t even given names till they were two and thus deemed likely to survive. Other cultures felt that children "Belonged to the Gods" until there were age seven and likely to live.


    "After Sara and Paolo relived the experiences from the time of Johann, Lily, and Raven, they gradually began to focus on improving the treatment of twins in The City. Up until then, twins were often treated as nothing more than commodities by the military and large businesses. It took 11 years and an extraordinary amount of money, but their efforts, and those of others they''d rallied in support, resulted in the introduction of "Twin Studies" as a mandatory first year course in every secondary school in The City. In the ensuing century, similar courses began to be taught in most schools throughout the country, and even in some northlands areas where the incidence of twins was significantly higher than the average.


    "It was the widening understanding of the unusual abilities of twins from The City of The Bells that allowed twins from other locations who were developing similar talents to avoid being treated as ''witches''. Historical analyses made by scholars on many occasions in the ensuing millennium nearly unanimously agreed that the effects of the twins abilities on the general population were instrumental in the development of...of.... Ah, nuts! That stupid interdiction blocking discussions about this is a MAJOR pain in the ass. Someone go tell her to remove it. Any possible need for it ceased to exist hundreds of years ago!


    "What do you mean, "You go tell her. I''m not putting my ass on the line just because you''re irritated."?


    Geez, the help nowadays. So unreliable....


    GLOSSARY:


    Ducat - A coin originally struck in Venice, Italy. The value on Earth VI is only 1/10 that of the one on Earth II (our world), as it is much smaller. Coins as large as 10 ducats were struck (approximately 34 grams of gold).


    A night at the Mule''s Tale (meals included) would cost 1 ducat, 5 silver grossi, or 20 silver soldini.


    Grosso - plural is grossi. A silver coin worth (on average) 4 soldini


    Soldini - plural of soldino (which itself is a slang term for a soldo)


    Kobudo - weapons techniques taught as part of Okinawan martial arts.


    Red Sea Straits - A natural waterway connecting the Red Sea with the Mediterranean. It ranges from 12 to 40 kilometers in width, with an average of 22.


    Yamato Nadeshiko - A term used to describe the "ideal" Japanese woman, often in the context of "there are very few of them any more." Some feminists might object to the term as they consider it demeaning. However the type of woman the term refers to is highly skilled in several arts and can hardly be considered subservient. In part the term would include someone like Blair Macklin who was a master at manipulating people and situations without obviously doing so.


    As for our world, Earth II, many women considered to be Yamato Nadeshikos have been behind the scenes "movers and shakers" in both politics and business in Japan.


    No, I''m not going to tell you their names. Consider finding them yourself as part of your homework.


    Yoroshi - Japanese word meaning basically "that''s acceptable" or "very well".


    Names and nicknames used here:


    Miranda - Manda


    Eugenia - Genie


    Yoko - none, though Biki occasionally called her "yo-yo" when she was irritated with her and they were alone.


    Hibiki - Biki (which means "beautiful maiden" in Japanese)

 Volume 2 - Ch 1 Feelings

    Introduction


    "Welcome to Applied Sociology VIII.  I see a number of familiar faces from last year''s App. Soc. VII, and I commend you for continuing, especially as, unlike App. Soc. VII, this course is not required.  There aren''t too many beings willing to take any more classes with me after their first exposure.  That makes you either too stupid to remember how I''m going to treat you if you screw up, or smart enough to realize that there''s no better place to learn about our subject, and your enthusiasm for learning is great enough that you''re willing to put up with me."


    Professor Ptica paused for a few seconds to allow those new to her classes to turn to their experienced classmates and verify her statements.  As always she was inwardly amused to see generalized gestures of veracity by those who knew her.  To be more precise, what amused her even more was seeing many faces pale in shock when the beings asking the questions realized what they''d gotten themselves into.


    "First let me give you a synopsis of what was covered last year."


    She shrugged her minuscule shoulders.  "Yes, I know that course is not a prerequisite for this one.  Why the Curriculum Committee made such an incredibly stupid decision is beyond me, especially as anyone who hasn''t taken App. Soc. VII will need to do so eventually if they wish to graduate.  If you don''t have any background, it''s going to be extremely difficult for you to understand what''s going on in this class as we''re continuing from right where we left off last semester.  I can''t require you to do so, but if you have the brains that the university admissions office says you do, you''d better at least read through the text from App Soc VII, preferably immediately."


    She ruffled her feathers to settle them properly then continued, "So here we go.  I''ll present the synopsis, but you''d best get to reading this weekend.  You probably wondered why your first class is on a Friday.  You shouldn''t be wondering any more.  If you still are, I suggest that you transfer out on Monday.  Anyone who hasn''t figured it out doesn''t have the brain power to benefit from my classes.  Go take Floral Appreciation instead.  It''ll be more suited to your lack of intellect.


    "Now then, let''s get started....


    "No.  I''ve changed my mind.  I''m going to just let you read the intro.  That way you won''t miss anything.  You may have the rest of the class period to do so.  Once you''re finished I suggest that you bribe those of your classmates who already took App. Soc. VII with their favorite beverage or snack and get them to fill you in on what''s not in the synopsis.


    "I''ll see you promptly at 08:30 on Monday.  Let me warn you.  You do not want to be late for my classes.  You won''t like the consequences."


    With that she fluttered off her perch and stalked out of the classroom.  Ordinarily seeing a creature less than a meter high stalking away from you would cause at least some degree of amusement. Nobody even snickered.  Those with previous experiences with the professor knew better.  The newbies were either all too busy reading or using their datalinks to find another class, any other class, to transfer into.


    -----------------------


    Second day of classes, Monday, September 6, 2483


    Ptica hopped onto her perch-lectern and began.   "The City of The Bells is without doubt the most unique city in the entire cosmos.  There are of course many thousands of unique and interesting cities in the various ''verses.  That goes without saying.  However this particular city stands alone for several reasons.


    "First of all we must address its creation.  Rather than growing haphazardly, as most all cities do, because of an accidental confluence of rivers, roads, etc., this city was planned.   Now I know what you''re going to say.  Lots of cities are planned.  That is undoubtedly true, but no other city was planned like this one.  This is the one city in all the known ''verses that was founded as an experiment by beings living approximately 5,000 years in the future.  (The exact time period, or for that matter the location, of the planners is still unknown.)  What is definitively known about them is heartbreakingly sparse and was gleaned from chance comments they made to residents of The City over a period of several hundred years.


    "Coming up with ''what if'' questions is one of the primary hobbies of beings living throughout the ''verses.  This time though, the beings in question had the ability to create a situation to answer their ''what ifs?''  Their question was simple.  What if there was an impregnable city in northern Italy that would be able to prevent invasion through the mountain passes leading from northern Europe?  How would it change history, or would it change history at all?


    "It must be said that the idea for this experiment was not the result of years of systematic planning and research.  It resulted from a chance comment made by one of a group of scientists who''d gone out to party after work and were close to falling-down drunk.  They were arguing about history when one, whose name was never recorded, said ''put up or shut up'' to another unnamed scientist who had spent far too long pontificating about the effects of such a city.


    "There was some rapid scribbling on napkins after that.  Within an hour those present realized that it WAS possible to manipulate the past and cause a city to grow there.  Five years later they were ready to begin and the result was what you learned about in class last year -- at least you''d BETTER have learned it if you hope to pass again this year. (New students are included in this admonition.  Which is why you''d best have caught up this past weekend.)


    "What the engineers didn''t know was that there was one other being who had become interested in their project.  She had her own agenda, which would dovetail nicely with theirs.  She had an experiment planned that involved the development of a particular societal mindset (in more ways than one), and the city being planned would make a perfect tabula rasa.


    "With that in mind, literally moments before the scientists triggered what they hoped would result in the founding of The City, she acted first.  As we know, her ''trigger'' was much more effective than that which the researchers had planned.  Eventually they wrote it off as a rather amazing coincidence.  The only thing they cared about was that The City would exist.  The idea that sentient beings would live in it and die in it somehow never entered their collective consciousnesses.


    "We''ve already seen how the residents of The City reacted once they''d learned about the ostensible cause of The Founding.  With the help of the one they came to call Lady Blue, many generations of inhabitants strove to mold The City according to their plan rather than that of a group of strangers living thousands of years in the future.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.    "As a result, The City of The Bells grew in ways that nobody would ever have expected, even given its rather spectacular triggering event.  This year we will continue exploring the stories of some of its residents."


    -------------------------


    Monday, August 09, of The Year 723 After the Founding


    Very few natives of The City of The Bells would have consciously noticed the trio passing them as they walked down the street.  They were neither ambling along nor hurrying, but rather were moving at a steady pace, as if they had a specific destination in mind.  Indeed they never hesitated at a turning.  However, if one had a reason to follow them, one might eventually have noticed something atypical about their behavior.


    It wasn''t that they were holding hands.  Twin trios, while not common, were also not rare in The City.  It has recently been calculated (by someone with far too much time on their hands if you ask me) that, over the previous 100 years, an average of 18% of identical twins had been in such a relationship due to their inability to live apart from each other. (No fraternal twins have thus far been known to be so afflicted.) Said inability has been labeled "Separation Sickness."  Given a population of approximately 80,000 native-born currently in The City, (with just over 9,500 other permanent and temporary residents), and considering that 40% of the native-born citizens were twins, (90% of whom were identical) that meant that there were just over 2,500 such "pairings" in The City.  (To put it another way, for every 11 people you knew, there would be one in such a trio.)


    So if it wasn''t that, what was it that would have caused an observer to think that they were strange?  Let me add two additional facts.  The three were two, small, teen girls (age 14 to be precise) flanking a fairly tall boy (almost 13 1/2) and they weren''t talking -- at all.


    (I''ll be the first to admit that the notion that all adolescent female beings, regardless of species, talk all day, even if they don''t have anything to talk about, is nonsense.  However not talking at all is about as rare as seeing a penguin in the Sahara Desert.  If you don''t know what either of those are, look them up, I''m not going to waste valuable class time explaining them to you.  We have far too much to cover this semester to digress for such trivialities.)


    In reality, they were carrying on a steady conversation.  Because it was in "twin," which is a private, telepathic language, there was nothing for our theoretical observer to hear.  Even that wasn''t all that remarkable when all is said and done.  ALL twins born in The City can do the same with their counterpart, identical or fraternal, so silent pairs walking the streets were common.  No, what was truly rare was that their boyfriend, for so he had to be given the situation, wasn''t speaking either.


    Everyone knew that twins could speak to each other mentally, but ONLY to each other.  They had to use their normal voices to communicate with everyone else.  Their young man was, as far as anyone knew (more on that later), the only non-twin who could "speak" twin.  It had eventually been concluded that the reason was that they were classmates at school and he sat directly between the two girls.  Over several months he had gradually been able to "tune in" to their conversations.


    At first he''d only been able to "hear" what they said, but within only a few weeks he''d picked up the knack of "speaking" himself.  Now, nearly 14 months later, it was almost as natural for him as it was for the girls.


    Wisely, when they''d first discovered Jason''s new talent, they''d made certain that he didn''t speak of it to anyone, even his own family.  It was hard for him for several reasons.  The first was that he''d always shared his feelings with his mother, as she was the only family member who truly understood his difficulties in relating to others.  The second grew out of the first.  It was rare that anyone praised him for anything, and like most humans, he liked being told he''d "done something right for a change."


    It really wasn''t a very nice thing to say, but it was about the most he''d ever received in the way of a compliment, and he''d learned to appreciate whatever he could get.  Now though, there was something even more important, and that was the approval of his companions, Yoko and Hibiki Macklin.  From the beginning they''d treated him like a real person instead of an embarrassment, which was probably why he''d come to love them so much.


    At first he''d decided, quite rationally, that he should be with them because they were the only ones who could help him control himself when he was about to do or say something that would be either misunderstood as either "childish behavior" or sarcasm.  It took about six months before he realized how cute they were in addition to being the people he depended on for stability.  (He should be "given some slack" for this, inasmuch as, when they actually got together, he had barely been 12 and was only just beginning to think of girls in that way.)


    The girls would have been mortified had they known that Jason had talked about his changing feelings for them with his mother on multiple occasions.  He''d analysed and dissected everything and was still confused.  His mother had listened patiently as he teased apart every thought and action, over and over and over, for several months.  Finally he''d asked the questions she''d been waiting for:  "Mother, I just don''t understand at all.  It isn''t rational.  I can''t parse it.  Why do I want to be with them all the time, and why do I feel sad when I say goodbye to them every afternoon?  Do you suppose I might be sick?"


    He struck a pensive pose, with his chin resting on his fist.  "No, it can''t be that.  I asked the school nurse Mrs. Chandler already.  She checked me over and said I was fine.  It''s strange though ''cause she had a big grin on her face when I left the infirmary.  Do you have any idea why she''d do that?


    "Oh wait, never mind.  Yoko says I should finish one topic ''before you start chasing after another''.   So what do you think is going on with me?"


    Akane Fukui had smiled up at her son and answered gently, "Some people would say that you are ill, if you look at it in a certain way.  It''s called being ''heartsick''."


    Seeing his puzzled face, she elaborated, "It means that you''re probably in love with them.  You''re a bit young to be entirely sure, after all you were only 12 and a half when you began to recognize how you felt, which means that you shouldn''t mention it to them yet.  You should be absolutely certain of your feelings first.  Therefore I''d advise that you wait, oh, probably at least until after you turn 14 next Spring before you say anything."


    "But Mother, that doesn''t make sense.  If you discover the answer to a difficult problem, shouldn''t you tell the other people involved?"


    Akane took his hand and began to massage it, something she''d learned from Hibiki as a means of helping Jason calm down when he got overly fidgety.  It wouldn''t do if he started bouncing and lost his ability to concentrate.


    "That''s a difficult question Jason, and one that people have struggled with for, probably, as long as there have been people.  The answer is that experience teaches you when to say and when not to say things.  You''ve told me that the girls have helped you with that already, correct?"


    Seeing his careful nod she went on, "And I can tell you from my experience that there might be problems with your relationship if you tell them now how you feel about them.   I know you want to be with them as much as you can, but if you tell them right now about your feelings, you might have to spend quite a bit less time with them instead of more.  You don''t want that, correct?"


    Another nod, though this time a bit on the reluctant side.


    "Please take my guidance on it."


    Akane struggled to find a way to explain, then... "Ah....  That should work."


    She sat straighter and focused her gaze on Jason''s face.  "Why don''t you consider this?  What you can do now is tell them that you enjoy spending time with them.  That''s entirely true, is it not?"


    "Yes Mother.  I really, really do like being with them.  So it''s OK to say that now?  OK.  Yes.  That makes sense.  I''ll do that and see what happens.  It''s like what our science teacher Mr. Sanders taught us.  When you do an experiment it''s best to change only one variable at a time.  That way it''s easier to figure out why things happen."


    He bent down and kissed his mother on the cheek.  "Thanks Mother.  That helps a lot!"


    Akane smiled as he left the room and carefully closed the door behind him.  That was another thing that the twins had taught him.  She had to admit that it was quite pleasant given that previously he''d had a distressing habit of slamming every door when he closed it.  The relative silence now was almost Zen-like.

 Vol 2 - Ch 2 - The Ring Park

    August 17 in The Year 723 After the Founding


    She''d been working herself up to the idea for several months, since about March, and it had become apparent by mid-June that she needed to act.  In two days Akane would once again be having lunch with Blair Macklin, the twins'' mother.  Fortunately it would be in the Macklin residence where they could have complete privacy.  She wasn''t entirely sure -- no to be completely honest with herself she had not a single clue as to the details -- but she had been around Blair enough to realize that she wasn''t your average banker''s wife.


    Somehow Blair seemed to know a great deal about, well, just about everything going on outside The City.  Most wives of a certain status would concern themselves with the affairs of their extended family and, if they were ambitious, learning about their husband''s business or perhaps even running one of their own.  Blair didn''t appear to do either, but, during their lunches, Blair was occasionally interrupted by a servant bearing a written message which Blair would quickly peruse and then pen a brief reply to.  Normally that would be considered quite rude to one''s guest, but there was such a sense of balance and calm around Blair that one couldn''t take offense.  After each message she would turn back to Akane and once more give her full attention to whatever she was saying, something only Jason did at home.


    More than once Akane had entertained the delicious fantasy that Blair was a spy of some kind.  It was an absurd idea of course.  Spies snuck around and poked into things...sometimes very dangerous things.  Akane had learned that Blair never left The City except in the summers to visit nearby relatives, and that happened rarely given that the twins were among those who were unable to travel more than a short distance from town and were thus unable to accompany her.  Still, Akane had a great deal of fun imagining Blair in a hooded cloak and whispering secret passwords to people in dark alleys.


    She pulled herself up short.  Time to get back to reality.  Fantasy could wait.  The reality was that Akane had decided, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that she had realized, that Blair would never betray a confidence.  It was for that reason that she felt comfortable in discussing Jason''s feelings for Hibiki and Yoko, and her own as well, with Blair.  If she were someday to become Jason''s mother-in-law, it would be unfair for everyone involved if Blair didn''t know in advance as much as possible about Jason''s awkwardness in social situations and not just the little she might have seen on the few occasions he had visited their home, at tea, or had heard from her husband after Jason''s karate lessons.


    Having sorted that out, she turned to her single vice.  She was an avid reader, but not the usual kind.  What she enjoyed reading when she had free time away from her historical studies was about chemistry, engineering, medicine, and the new science called "physics."  It didn''t seem to have any practical use, at least not yet, but it was captivating.


    ---------------------------


    Professor Ptica knocked on the lectern to get everyone''s attention.  She was fairly certain that she already had it, but there were a few species who were adept at sleeping with their eyes open, and she wanted to be sure.  "You can park your shocked looks and think instead.  We''re talking about their 14th century, which was still very much a paternalistic culture, at least in most of Europe.  Ireland was different, but that''s covered in another class.


    "Suffice it to say that, at that time on that particular planet, a woman studying any of the ''hard'' sciences would be looked at with about the same astonishment and disapproval as would one who walked down the street in her underwear.  In time things changed there, just as they have on most every civilized planet, and females are now recognized as being just as capable in the sciences as are men.


    "Let me remind you that sociology is the study of the development of societies.  Preconceived notions based on the society YOU grew up in and with can only be handicaps.  I suggest that you throw those out the window and look at this particular society for what it was.  It functioned, and it did so quite well.  Women were beginning to hold positions of great importance, though usually secretly.  It was an awkward time, but it was progress."


    Ptica took a deep breath and smiled.  So far it had been a good day.  Her students had been attentive, it was raining heavily, and they would probably finish a few minutes early.  That should give her enough time to slip outside and have a good bath before lunch.


    "It was a Thursday afternoon in early fall, and the trio were out on one of their daily walks.  Today they were headed for the Ring Park, and....


    "Now what?  What''s the Ring Park?  Have your brains gone soft?  We covered that last semester and...ah...I guess we didn''t.  Oops?


    "Ahem.  The Ring Park is exactly that, a park that encircles the entire city approximately one kilometer from the edge of the ''summit''.  Most locals refer to it as ''The Park.''  The lower edge is marked by a stone wall a hair over two and a half meters high and a meter wide that was the first defensive wall built around The City.  Once The City expanded far enough that a new city wall was needed, the undeveloped area inside the first wall was gradually filled in until it was fairly level.  That took over 40 years.  Given the slope of The City in that area, the top 2/3 of a meter of the wall still extends above the ground level of the park on the downhill side, giving an excellent sitting area.


    "There was intense lobbying to block construction of any buildings in the filled in space, both by residents in general, and the City Engineers in particular.  They insisted that leaving the area free of buildings would make maintenance of the water and sewer lines safer and easier.  The duke at the time, Robert Francis Ignatz, agreed with them and ordered that the entire area be converted to a park with access free to all who dwelt in or visited The City.  The only buildings to be allowed were sanitary facilities.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "He also ordered that the uppermost 8 meters be set aside for shops no more than four meters deep and five meters wide and that they were to be fronted by a four meter wide pedestrian path.  Shops were restricted to selling items that would be of use to visitors to the park.  All shops were to be spaced in such a way that there was a 10 meter wide space between them.  Seating for customers of shops selling foodstuffs was restricted to those areas in order to make refuse collection easier.


    "The park is crossed by the four major roads leading from the ''square'' at the top of The City to the gates in the new wall which is a further kilometer and a half out from the summit.  Duke Robert''s decree that no other roads be allowed to cross the park has been sustained by every duke and duchess since.


    "Once the surface had been filled and leveled, it was planted with grass.  Goats were used to keep it at a reasonably short length.  They didn''t need to be paid and never quit eating.  That particular decision was behind the next evolution of the area.


    "Many people in The City enjoyed growing various plants, but by then only about a third of homes had gardens, and those of any size were almost always part of the oldest and most expensive properties.   Several avid windowbox gardeners put their heads together and realized that all that parkland would be a wonderful place to grow larger plants that you couldn''t grow in a box at your window or on the roof.


    "They petitioned the duke for permission to establish a rose garden on a small part of the parkland.  In their petition they pointed out that the goats left behind large quantities of manure that tended to smell and also wasn''t much fun to clean off of one''s boots if one stepped in it by accident.  Said manure would make excellent fertilizer, which the garden group would collect and use for the roses, thus freeing the duke from the expense of paying to have it removed.


    "As I believe I''ve pointed out before, every duke and duchess, starting with Alphonse, has been on the frugal side, and once Robert heard the words ''save money'' he readily agreed.  Soon there were dozens of petitions for allotments of space, to the point that, were he to grant them all, each group would only have a strip about three meters wide.


    "He did what all rulers do.  He appointed a commission to investigate options.  Unlike most though, he gave them exactly one month to draw up a plan.  Probably because there were no special interests chasing after the non-existent, potential financial gain from such small plots of land as were likely to finally be available, the commission managed to complete its task in the allotted time.


    "To be sure some intense negotiations took place, but nobody, quite, got into a fight over their disagreements.  In the end most all groups merged into larger ones, and then some of those merged.  The final plan included a total of 12 gardens, each garden to be responsible for cleaning up after the goats in the grassy areas on either side.


    "An additional two areas were placed under the supervision of The City''s medical association and would grow herbs useful in treating illnesses, with an emphasis on those that were expensive to import or tended to be in short supply at various times of the year.


    "Two more were dedicated to play areas for children and another two for adults who wanted to keep fit.


    "Five of the original 12 were designated for specialist groups to grow and display their particular plants of interest.


    "Three, each half again as large as the others, were assigned to the largest garden groups for use as demonstration gardens, one of which included several glasshouses displaying plants from warmer climates.


    "There were in addition four areas set aside for what we would now term cooperative urban gardens, where those who had no room for home gardens could grow whatever would fit in a three x five meter space.  Plots that were not regularly used or properly maintained were given to whomever was next on the waiting list.


    "Truth be told, the taxes paid by the shop owners along the Circle Road (for that was the name eventually used to describe the footpath at the upper margin of the garden) covered almost the entire expense of maintaining the park, even before it was sub-divided.


    "When you add in the spending by tourists who stayed an extra day or two or three to "see the sights," the park added a substantial sum to the duke''s revenues even after allowing for the necessary expansion of the militia in order to properly police the area.


    "Well, there you have it in a nutshell.  There are many ramifications of The Park''s existence that I haven''t touched on, but you should at least have an idea of what it is and how it functions.  I''ve just now sent you links to pertinent videos showing how it grew and how it looks today.  You may view them at your leisure.  They should be especially interesting to those of you who are majoring in city planning, horticulture, and/or architecture."


    The professor cleared her throat.  "Now that you understand where they were going, let us explore why.  Jason was initially on the portly side.  The reason was a classic problem, of which I''m sure you''re all aware, called ''frustration eating''.  As one who had for years been excluded from the company of his peers and, truth be told, even some of his family gatherings, his solace had been food.  Combined with a chronic lack of exercise, he''d ''packed on the kilos''.  He wasn''t severely obese, yet, and the twins had quickly inaugurated a program to make sure that he never would be.


    "While doing their research on family histories using the tax records (see the notes from last year), they had discovered a most unpleasant fact.  Men in general tended not to live as long as women.  As a matter of historical fact, in a number of cities in 14th century Italy on Earth II, 90% of the population over age 35 consisted of women.  It should be no surprise that the twins were extremely upset when they discovered this.  They''d been working very hard to arrange thing so that they could be with Jason, and they weren''t about to let anything get in the way of being with him for as many years as possible.


    "Thus their daily walks.  The first month they had been rather short.  Jason simply wasn''t fit enough to go very far.  However, as time went on, they were able to extend the distance.  Now they were covering at least two kilometers a day and as many as four. As he was much less stressed, and more of his time was occupied with other activities, Jason was eating approximately 35% less than he was before he began dating the twins.  After five months he had lost his excess weight and added a substantial amount of muscle.


    "In a sense it was fortunate for the girls that his weight loss had occurred after they had staked their claim.  Once he had lost the excess weight, it became evident that he was rather good looking, even on the border of being handsome.  The reality of the situation was that his behavior would probably still have led most young women to look elsewhere, but, even so, the twins were happy that now they''d never have to worry about someone else snatching him away from them.


    "Now, back to the video.  We need to finish class on time today.  The Academic Dean is expecting me for lunch and it''s one being you never keep waiting."

 Vol 2 - Ch 3 - An Assassin!?

    Thursday October 15, in the Year 723 After the Founding


    As they were walking along the Circle Road, Jason suddenly pulled up short, causing the girls to almost lose their footing.  Less than a second later he resumed walking, as if nothing had happened.


    Before they could say anything he spoke to them, "Just keep walking.  Whatever you do, don''t turn around.  I mean you Yoko.  Don''t do it. It could be dangerous.  Just this once stomp on your curiosity."


    "Oh, all right Jason, I won''t, but only if ya tell us what''s goin'' on."


    He led them on a seemingly random stroll across a grassy area then sat them on the old curtain wall around The Park so that they faced outward toward the valley south of The City.  Next he slowly and deliberately lifted the hands that he was holding to his lips, one at a time, and kissed them.  The girls reacted exactly as he has expected, both physically and mentally.  They blushed bright as beets and "yelled" at him.


    "What in blue blazes are you doing?!  Ya can''t be doin'' something like that in public Jason!  What will people think?"


    "They''re going to think exactly what I want them to, if anyone is watching, which I both doubt that they are and hope that they''re not.  They''ll think that I''m in love with two lovely young ladies and that I''m a bit overly demonstrative for someone as young as me.  The last thing anyone watching will think is that I was watching one of them just a minute ago."


    That instantly got their undivided attention.  Unlike him, they were well aware of at least some of what their mother was doing.  Consequently they didn''t waste time asking questions. Rather, without speaking, even to each other, they leaned up against him and gently rubbed their cheeks on his upper arms.


    Now it was Jason''s turn to be embarrassed.  He was accustomed to their touching him, but this was far more intimate than they''d ever been before, and he had no idea how to respond.  Fortunately his body responded for him, and he blushed just as brightly as they had earlier.


    Hibiki purred, "Well, how about that Yoko.  It would be most prudent for us to remember this, especially should  we want something from him in the future."


    "Hmmm.  You''re probably right Biki.  Besides, he''s so cute when he blushes.  Maybe we should investigate other ways ta get him ta do it."


    "I concur with your analysis Yoko.  This could be a great deal of fun."


    Jason managed to blush even brighter, after which both girls broke out in peals of genuine laughter.


    It should be noted that, as they sat there for the next 10 minutes, neither girl let go of his hand, nor did they lift their heads off of his arms.


    Hibiki broke what had been an amicable silence, "Jason dear, do you think it is now safe for us to leave?  More importantly, will you tell us what is going on?  Being with you like this is extremely pleasant, but my curiosity is about to drive me to distraction."


    "Yes, let''s go, shall we?"  He stood and brushed himself off, then waited while the girls did likewise.


    This time they held onto his arms and leaned into him as they headed back up the hill toward home.  After a few minutes of silence Yoko said, "Well?  Get on with it.  We''re waiting."


    "Waiting for what?  Oh. Never mind.  I was thinking of something.  Several somethings actually.  Let''s see.  I want to do this right.  Let me organize my thoughts or I''ll ramble all over the place and make you angry with me again.  I don''t like it very much when you get like that."


    The girls leaned forward enough that Jason''s body wouldn''t be in the way, then turned and looked at each other. Each found that the other looked just as chagrined as she felt herself.  Obviously they hadn''t been quite as patient with Jason as they''d convinced themselves that they were.


    Jason seemed not to notice.  He was looking toward the sky, at nothing in particular, while he sorted out what he wanted to say.


    "OK.  I think I have it straight.  Starting about a month after I learned how to talk to you properly, I started to feel things.  No, that''s not right.  What I did was start to feel what other people were feeling.  I guess that''s the best way to put it.  At first I thought it was just me feeling angry or sad or happy or whatever -- for no reason.  It frightened me.  I have enough trouble sorting out my feelings already, and this happening off and on all day was hard to deal with.


    "Later I noticed that I would feel like that when someone in class or near me was upset or happy.  Eventually I figured out that it wasn''t me but them I was feeling.  Let me tell you, that was a big relief.  I''d been afraid that I was going crazy or something.


    "I''ve been practicing since then.  First I had to work out when it was someone else''s feelings and not mine.  Then I had to figure out who it was.  Finally I had to figure out how to block it off when it was irritating me, which it was most of the time, especially when everyone panicked because one of the teachers was about to give us another pop quiz."


    He sighed.  "So that''s it. That''s what happened."


    He figured that any passerby who heard that part would just think he was talking to himself, so he''d said it aloud.  Thinking at the twins burned calories, substantially more than regular speech, and it tired him out when he had to say as much as he just had.


    The girls once more leaned forward and looked at each other.  This time they nodded, pulled back their free arms and punched him.


    "OW! What did you do that for?"


    Yoko snarled, "Whadda ya mean, ''That''s what happened''?  Ya didn''t tell us diddly about why you got all weird on us today!  We want ta hear the rest of it!"


    Hibiki chimed in mentally, "Indeed. Give us a complete answer, or we shall do worse than punch you in the arm.  If you do not begin speaking, we will...we will pull you down and kiss you into submission!"


    Moments later her blush returned when a vengeance when she realized what she''d said.


    Jason''s response was barely above a whisper, and again accompanied by his own blush, "I think, just maybe, that I''d like that...a lot."


    "But I''d better tell you the rest now or I may forget.  I think if you start kissing me I''ll forget everything else but that."


    The girls clutched at his arms.  All three of them were blushing madly, but the setting sun was bathing them in an orange-red light that masked it from everyone else on the street.  At least they all hoped so.


    He cleared his mental throat, "What I felt in the park scared me, a lot.  There was a man who passed us going the other way.  His emotions were so strong that I could barely stop from shaking.  Mostly what I felt was an incredible determination.  I could tell that he wasn''t going to let anything or anyone stop him.  I couldn''t tell who, but he''s planning to kill someone!


    "He was looking at everyone who passed by, though he was trying not to look like that''s what he was doing.  It seemed like...automatic, like he wasn''t paying a lot of attention, but he would if he saw something odd.  He was looking sorta toward me when I felt what he was thinking, and I''m pretty sure that he might have seen me look scared.  I didn''t want him to think that I knew what he was doing, so that''s why I did what I did in the park."


    Other than tightening their grips on his arms, the girls showed no visible response.  Instead they had a discussion on what they''d begun calling "twin channel two."  They''d figured out a way to talk to each other that Jason couldn''t hear.  Like it was for him when he spoke overly long to them, it was tiring, but sometimes a girl needed to be private with another girl.  No men allowed.


    "Biki, I think it''s time to tell Mother.  Whatta ya think?"


    "Agreement here.  Now, before anything else happens."


    "Jason, let us go home.  This is something we need to tell Mother, OK?"


    He looked down at Hibiki and then Yoko who nodded agreement, so he said,  "Sure. Why not?"


    They avoided hurrying, sticking to their usual pace, just in case.  In case of what they weren''t sure, but neither did they want to find out, so they behaved as much like they always did as they could.


    It didn''t take long, as they''d been near a side street that lead almost directly up the hill to their home.  When they arrived, Yoko went to find their mother.  Hibiki stayed in the entryway with Jason.  Their father would be home soon, and she didn''t want Jason to run into Hiroshi without at least one of them with him.


    Yoko found their mother in the kitchen, giving some last minute directions to the cook.  "I''m home Mother."


    "Welcome home dear.  Where''s Hibiki?"


    "She''s in the entryway with Jason."


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    That caused Blair''s left eyebrow to twitch upward.  The girls rarely brought him to visit, and never before unannounced.  Yoko''s next action resulted in the right eyebrow also rising.  She tugged on her mother''s sleeve, gently given that there were potential witnesses, and led her out of the room.


    Once they were in the hall, Yoko waved her mother a bit down the hall, then stood on her toes and whispered in Blair''s ear the words she''d heard an occasional visitor say.  In each case her mother had begun a flurry of activities from which all other family members were gently but firmly excluded.  What she said was, "We have a situation."


    Both of Blair''s eyebrows rose.  She looked a question at Yoko who responded with, "Yes."


    "My office, now, all of you."


    Yoko called the others as she followed Blair up a flight of stairs and then to her office, which was at the end of the hall and shared no wall with any other rooms.  It had perhaps once been a tower room, but, if so, numerous rounds of remodeling over the centuries had obscured its origins.  Once there Blair entered.  Yoko waited outside for the others to arrive.


    When the children entered the room, they saw that three chairs had been arranged across from Blair''s desk.  She was sitting in the chair behind it.  However, unlike her usual relaxed, friendly pose, she was leaning forward, her elbows on the desk and her fingers steepled.  She nodded at them.  "Sit.  Sit and explain.  You can tell me later how it came that you know that phrase.  For now, start talking."


    The girls had never in their lives seen this stern personage before, and they were taken aback.  This was their mother?  If so, and there truly was no doubt who she was, there was much more going on than they''d ever supposed, even in their wildest imaginings.


    Hibiki began, "Well Mother, first we need to tell you something.  We have not exactly been hiding it, but, well, we didn''t, uh..."


    She faltered when she felt and saw her mother''s gaze, but somehow managed to start over.  Uncharacteristically she blurted it out, "Jason can speak twin!"


    This time when Blair''s eyebrows rose, they seemed almost to disappear in her hairline.  She swiveled her eyes toward Jason, much like a cannoneer adjusts the aim of his cannon.  "Explain."


    For once it was a blessing that Jason wasn''t very good at reading expressions.  Because of that, he wasn''t at all intimidated.  Consequently he did exactly as instructed, starting with the moment he''d first heard the buzzing of the girl''s conversation at school and ending with the happenings of the day.


    By the time he was finished, he was elated.  An adult who wasn''t a family member had listened to everything he had to say!  Not only that, she''d not interrupted him, not even once!  He was pretty sure that his practice with sticking to the point when he was talking to the twins had helped a lot, but he was also certain that he''d still gotten off track one or two times.


    Blair pushed herself back from her desk with both arms and stared at the ceiling for a long while, obviously thinking.  When she was finished, she turned her attention to the children once more.  "So, the ramifications of your ability to speak ''twin'' we will explore later.  Your ability to sense emotions, will also have to be dealt with later, probably after the first.  What we have now is a little problem that isn''t so little.


    "If I''m to believe what you say, there''s a man in town who is planning to murder someone.  That narrows it down to one of about 23,000 adult males, given that the rest of the population consists of women and children.  If we accept the possibility that a woman is his target, the number is more than double that.  Without more to go on, it''s going to be a bit hard to find him, don''t you think?"


    Jason raised his hand, just as he would in class when he had an answer for the teacher.  Blair nodded and said, "Yes, Jason, what is it?"


    "Ah I guess I hadn''t thought it all the way through.  Would it help if you knew who he was?  Well, no, wait, I don''t know his name, but, ah, would a drawing of him help?"


    Blair''s eye lit up.  "You can draw well enough that we could tell who he is?  I don''t mean a picture that looks sort of like him, but exactly like him or near that?"


    Jason spread his hands and shrugged his shoulders.   Blair fell back in her chair.  It hadn''t been likely, but she''d had to ask.  However Jason wasn''t finished.  "I can''t but Yoko can.  She draws better than anyone I know.  No, not that.  She draws better than anyone whose pictures I''ve seen.  I don''t know how well everyone I know draws.  Sorry."


    Blair looked at him with surprise.  Yoko looked at him in astonishment.  "How..how do ya know that I draw?  I''ve never showed anyone, not even Biki.  How could you....."  She trailed off into silence.


    "Oh.  That''s easy.  Sometimes, when you''re really, really concentrating hard on something, I can see what you''re seeing.  And when you draw, you concentrate super hard.  That''s how I know how well you draw.  It''s the same as when you look in the mirror in your bathroom after you take a bath and wonder what you''ll look like when you''re full grown, or when you look at Hibiki and wonder if she''s prettier than you are.  You always concentrate real hard when you do that."


    He looked at her with puzzlement. "That''s silly you know.  I know that identical twins aren''t exactly identical, but you''re so close to each other in looks that there''s no reason for you to compare yourself to her.  You''re both the prettiest girls in town."


    He looked down at his feet.  "I guess I shouldn''t say that either.  Besides my sisters and you two I''ve never seen any naked girls."


    He looked up again.  "But I''m sure that you''ll always be the prettiest girls to me.  Mom says that ''beauty is in the eye of the beholder'' and I think that you''re both beautiful."


    He expected to be praised.  He''d complimented them twice.  He''d called them "pretty" and "beautiful."  Therefore he was completely surprised by their reactions.


    The first thing he noticed was a choking sound from Blair''s direction.  He looked that way and saw her bent over her desk with both her hands clapped over her mouth.  Her entire body was shaking as if she were having a seizure.


    Before he could ask what was wrong, he was distracted by Hibiki flying across his field of vision as she leapt from the chair on his right and onto Yoko who was just beginning to stand up.  He couldn''t see Hibiki''s face because she had her back to him.  She was holding onto Yoko with all her might as Yoko struggled to get out of her chair.


    The look on her face was one of incandescent fury.  For the first time in his life Jason understood the phrase, "If looks could kill."  The only problem was he had no idea why she was acting like that.


    Fortunately the explanation was forthcoming.  Unfortunately, it came from Yoko.  "What...do...you...mean...you''ve...seen...us...naked?  Have you been peeping at us in the changing room at school?"


    Jason raised his hands and made the "calm down" gesture he''d learned from his mother, "Whatever are you talking about?  I''d never do anything like that.  Peeping is wrong.  Why would I peep into the changing room?  I''m not interested in any of the other girls.


    "Besides, you''re the one who showed me.  It''s not like I was trying to find a way to look at you."


    He managed to look both pensive and confused. "I''ll be seeing you naked now and then for the rest of our lives together.  Why are you so upset?"


    By then Hibiki had turned around, and she was glaring at him too, though not in anger but in exasperation.  She''d just realized that they had a lot further to go with Jason''s social education than they''d thought.  While the idea that he''d seen her naked in the bathroom was a bit upsetting, what he''d said about the rest of their lives was right.  It was after all part of being married.  It was a bit disconcerting, but not an unpleasant feeling.


    Yoko''s fury was, in truth, not directed at him as much as it was toward herself.  She''d always prided herself on her awareness of her surroundings, and on the fact that she was almost always the first in class to notice something new or different.  But here she was, totally unaware of something significant that had probably been going on for months.


    In addition there were telltale signs, at least to her twin, that much of her anger was designed to cover up her embarrassment.  Somehow she hadn''t wanted anyone to know about her drawing.


    By now Blair had gotten her laughter under control.  She stood and walked around her desk to the girls.  She smiled at Hibiki and stroked her hair.  Then she knelt and wrapped her arms around Yoko.  "Don''t you think that''s about enough little one?  You''ve known for several years that Jason isn''t like other boys.  It''s not his fault that he doesn''t understand that part of your reaction.  Nor is it his fault that he''s unaware that this ability has never before been documented.  Even I''ve never heard of it.  That being so, how should he know that it''s unusual?"


    Yoko turned to her mother, the fury falling away from her face as she did so.  She let her head drop so she didn''t have to see Blair''s face.


    Blair put her index finger under Yoko''s chin and lifted her head, "Haven''t I taught you that running away from a problem usually makes it worse?  What then should you do in a situation like this?"


    Yoko mumbled, "Analyze the situation, sort out the possible ways to address it, then implement the one that seems most suitable at the time.  Hold the others in reserve in case the first one doesn''t pan out."


    Blair patted her on the head.  "Good girl.  I was sure that you were listening.  That being the case, what are your appropriate actions right now?  There''s one pressing question of some urgency.  The others need to be addressed, but that one thing is what we all need answered immediately.  What is it?"


    "Please let me stand Mother."


    Blair backed up and Yoko stood.  She glared once more at Jason, then surprised both of them by grinning at him.  After that she began to pace back and forth, five small steps in each direction.  Blair''s office was fairly good sized, but it contained an unusual number of furnishings and bookcases.


    After a while she stopped and spun toward Jason.  "How does my being good at drawing help with identifying this person when I''ve never seen him?"


    Blair, who was by then standing behind Jason, silently applauded.


    Jason looked back at her with some exasperation of his own.  "That''s a silly question."


    Then he stopped and thought for a moment.  "I''m sorry.  No it isn''t.  I supposed that you know what I do, but I see that it doesn''t always work that way.  What we do is I put the image of his face in your mind and you draw it.  It''s that simple."


    He smiled at her.  "I know you can do it.  You draw people better than anything else you do, and all your drawings are really, really good!"


    While Yoko struggled to absorb Jason''s statement, Blair quietly, but quickly walked over to the chaise lounge in the corner and laid herself down on it.  It wouldn''t do for her to faint.  Her falling on the floor would distract the others, and they might forget something important.


    While she was lying there she could vaguely hear Yoko and Jason discussing how to go about producing the necessary portrait.  She herself was far too busy to pay much attention.  He mind was swirling, having been faced with three outrageous impossibilities that she had suddenly learned weren''t impossible at all.


    1) Someone other than a twin could speak twin, at the very least in certain specific situations.


    2) Likewise, in certain situations, one member of a twin pair could see what the other could see.


    3) In addition, said other member was, apparently, sometimes able to project something that he/she had seen in the recent past into the mind of their twin clearly enough that an accurate rendering could be drawn.


    The mind boggled with possibilities, right now nothing more so than numbers two and three.  If a spy could project the image of a document that needed copying, directly to the mind of his or her twin, there''d be no need to carry writing tools and paper with them during an infiltration.  If caught they wouldn''t have anything incriminating on them and they might be able to explain being where they weren''t supposed to be as an accident.


    She was sure that a number of other ideas would come to her, but that was for later.  As she''d taught the girls, what needed doing first should be done first.  She took a few deep breaths then sat up gingerly.  Good, no dizziness.  Time to get back to work.


    She went to the cabinet behind her desk and removed a medium size sheet of paper from a stack that was usually used for drawing up floor plans.  She carried it over and laid it flat on her worktable. Turning to Yoko, she held up a pen in her left hand and a pencil in her right, "Which do you want to use?"

 Vol 2 - Ch 4 - Its Avellino!

    Yoko sat at the table with Jason standing behind her, his hands resting lightly on her shoulders.  Hibiki stood to the side, with her left hand on Jason''s right shoulder.


    Blair shook her head.  Already these three were acting as a unit.  She''d better have a talk with the girls about birth control sooner rather than later.  They really shouldn''t be getting involved in sex for several years yet, but she''d learned in her business that things that shouldn''t happen frequently did.  "Better safe than sorry" applied to potential pregnancies as well as the spying business.


    There was no need for her to be involved in the current proceedings.  In fact all she could do by hovering would be to mess things up.  Therefore she strode to her desk and pulled out a piece of writing paper.  Miranda need to know about this immediately, and it needed to be in person.  No way was she putting a single word on paper about what she''d just learned.


    What she wrote was, "In response to your most gracious offer, now would probably be an excellent time to begin.  Let me know when it will be convenient for us to meet to discuss it.  With respect, Blair Macklin."


    She quietly slipped out the door and handed the note to the maid who was approaching.  "No need to wait for a reply."


    Her maid Ailin, while probably the most skillful ladies maid she''d ever had, or heard of, was also one of her best sources of information.  It''s amazing, or perhaps not, what a maid can hear in places that the mistress can''t go.  Whenever she heard useful information, a note with the pertinent details would appear on Blair''s desk shortly after Ailin got home.


    Blair''s note would be in Miranda''s hands within ten minutes or so.  Even though it was almost dinner time, she''d probably arrive within half an hour.  The code was extremely simple, but the best ones often were.  All such notes began with, "In response to your gracious offer."  The words following specified when they needed to meet.  "Tomorrow," "in a week," or, as in this case, "now."


    Miranda arrived at the door almost exactly 30 minutes after Ailin had left with the message.  Once she had been admitted she turned to Blair. "Thank you for reminding me.  I''d wondered where I''d left it, and I''ll be needing it when I join Robert at the banker''s breakfast tomorrow."


    Blair bowed floridly.  "Not at all my dear.  Not at all.  I understand how it is when you get older.  I hear that one tends to forget things now and then."


    Miranda raised an eyebrow.  "To be sure.  Like when you forgot your favorite fan at the Ducal Residence three months ago?"


    Both of them laughed then headed upstairs, having reassured any nearby servants that this was no different an occasion than any other.


    Upon their arrival Blair waved Miranda through the door, then followed and closed it securely. Next she pushed out a bubble of silence.  It was her only talent, and she didn''t use it very  often, but it was extremely useful on occasions such as this.  Miranda approved.  It was overkill, what with only one wall being shared with other rooms, but caution was always desirable.


    She''d nodded at the three children, who had properly stopped their activities and stood politely when she''d entered the room.  Immediately thereafter they resumed...whatever it was they were doing.  This had gone from a curious situation to curiouser -- if there were such a word.  An urgent summons from Blair rarely happened more than twice a year.  Never before had there been anyone else in the room at such a meeting.  Finding children present... Now that was indeed interesting.


    Blair turned and saw that Yoko had stopped working.  "Yoko dear, have you finished?"


    "Yes mother.  Would you like to see it?"


    Miranda noticed her embarrassment.  Why, she wondered?


    "Yes dear, please show it to us."


    Yoko picked up the paper and turned it around to face the adults.


    When Blair''s reason returned, she found herself stretched out on the floor, with Miranda close beside her.  She vaguely remembered thinking that she''d never make it to the chaise this time before she''d quickly lowered herself to the floor and stretched out.  Apparently it was still possible to faint when horizontal, though it seemed to have been brief as the children were still running around the table to see what had happened.


    Avellino....  Why did it have to be Avellino?  And now of all times?  Her mind caught up with her, and she almost laughed.  There was never a good time for Avi to be in town, any town.


    The children arrived, and she forestalled their questions by saying, "Please listen to me very carefully.  This is extremely important.  First of all, never tell anyone, ever, for the rest of your lives, what happened today or anything you see or hear the rest of the day.  Both your lives and those of many others may well depend on it.


    "Secondly, Yoko dear, I need you do draw exactly six more copies.  You stay here.  Hibiki and Jason will go to Cook and tell her that I''ve given special permission for you three to celebrate the marriage of one of your older friends tonight and have dinner up here.  If she asks why, just tell her that he''s in Venice and you just heard about it, and that you wanted to do something to share in his happiness.   She''s a hopeless romantic, so she''ll probably never bother to try and reason it out.  Just take whatever food and drink she gives you and keep Yoko supplied so she doesn''t get overly tired.


    "Oh, and make sure that she rests if her hand starts to cramp.


    "I''ll send a note to Akane explaining that Jason will be having dinner with us today.  He was worried that Hibiki was hurt when she slipped on a wet spot earlier and he wants to make sure that she''s really OK.  She''ll understand.


    "Jason, I''m so sorry, but you''re going to have to lie to your mother.  When you get home tell her exactly what I just said.  Hibiki slipped on some wet pavement on Bleek street and you were afraid about how badly she might have hurt her ankle and escorted her home.


    "Hibiki dear.  Please explain to Jason what a lie to protect someone is and why we''re going to do that in this special situation."


    She levered herself onto her knees, then carefully climbed to her feet.  Miranda was doing likewise.


    Blair slipped out the door leaving Miranda to supervise.  Not that there was anything she could do, but sometimes just acting as if you''re doing something helps with the stress.


    Blair went to the door of Hiroshi''s office.  He should be home now, though he would have stayed away from her''s once he saw the door closed all the way.  She knocked quietly, paused three seconds, then knocked twice more.  She walked in, gave her husband a tight smile, and fell into the chair opposite his desk.  "Avellino is in town."


    Hiroshi''s face turned pasty white, and he grabbed at his desk with both hands.  He didn''t pass out, but Blair could tell that it was touch and go for a moment.  Shortly he managed three disjointed words, "How.  Where.  When."


    "How - I''ll explain that later."


    "Where - in the RIng Park".


    "When - about two to three hours ago.


    "He''s planning to kill someone.  I''m not sure how soon."


    Hiroshi responded, "Of course he''s going to kill someone.  He''s always going to kill someone.  He''s an assassin.  It''s what he does, and.... Oh.  Sorry love.  It''s just that....well, never mind."


    He composed himself as much as he could and asked, "Why did you use those particular words?  It sounds like you have some definite information."


    Blair nodded.  "Indeed I do.  Unfortunately I have no information at all on his target, nor as to how soon.  But I can conjecture.  The next Festa Eve is tomorrow.  Then or the next day would be the most logical times, and the safest for him as well, both to accomplish the deed and to escape."


    Hiroshi steepled his fingers, exactly as Blair had earlier.  "So we need to find him and stop him before he can strike.  Afterwards we have about the same chance of catching him as we do a stiff breeze.  He''ll fade away no matter how many people are chasing him."


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.    Blair smiled wanly.  "Indeed.  We have to stop him, permanently, before hand.  Look on the bright side.  This is the first time ever that we''ve known ahead of time where he was and approximately when he was going to strike."


    Hiroshi shook his head.  "The problem is that there are only four people in The City who know what he looks like and it''s possible that he''ll recognize two of them.  That''s going to be a major problem.  So...why are you smiling my love?"


    "It''s because I know something you don''t dear."  She cocked her head to the side and grinned, "Though I must admit that I didn''t know it an hour ago.  It seems that our dear daughter Yoko has been hiding something from us.  She''s probably the best portrait artist whose work I''ve ever seen.  Right now she''s in the middle of drawing seven copies of Avi''s portrait."


    Hiroshi''s mouth opened and closed several times as he started to say something then thought the better of it.  Finally he settled for, "She couldn''t have seen him and recognized him, as she''s never seen him or heard of him before, has she?"


    Blair nodded agreement.


    "Someone who has seen him is describing him and she''s drawing some sort of likeness from that?"


    Blair shook her head "no."  "Remember?  I''m one of the ones who has seen him, and it''s an exactly correct portrait."


    She smiled again.  "Sorry love, it''ll take at least an hour to explain it to you, and right now we don''t have the time.  Please figure out who you want your two copies to go to.  I''m sending three with Miranda to get to her people.  I''ll take the other two to The Residence and work out with Dot and Bobby which twins we can trust with this and which of them have the best chance of surviving should Avi find out that they''ve spotted him."


    Hiroshi rubbed his head, wondering, not for the first time, if his habit of rubbing it when stressed had anything to do with the hair he was losing.  Blair had raised the most important question.  Which of his agent teams who were in town had the skills to tail Avi without being detected and yet could survive if he did notice them and decided to take them out before they could spread the word?


    ------------------


    For the next two hours Hibiki and Jason devoted their efforts to keeping Yoko functional.  It''s hard to draw a detailed portrait quickly, and Yoko had yet to learn how to capture an accurate image without putting in everything that she''d seen.  By the time she got to portrait number six, she''d begun to figure out a few of the tricks, so the last two required less total work.  However she was slowing down due to fatigue, both physical and mental.


    The others did the best they could to support her -- plying her with food and drink, rubbing her shoulders when they tightened up, and making her take short breaks to rest so they could massage her hands when they threatened to cramp.


    Near the end Hibiki, whose sense of humor could most kindly be described as "wicked" and more realistically as "base", decided that, since Miranda had vanished an hour or so earlier, the mood needed lightening.  She pulled Jason over to a back corner and asked, "So Jason, you said that besides us the only girls you have seen naked are your sisters.  How often does that happen?"


    Yoko would have spit out what she was chewing at the moment, but she didn''t want to have to start all over with the current drawing.  She was concentrating hard enough that she couldn''t even say anything in "twin."  Before she could swallow, Jason, who hadn''t yet known Hibiki long enough to fully understand her sense of humor, answered.


    "Pretty much every day I guess.  We have a really large bath on our floor, so it''s fairly common for all of us to be soaking after we wash.  Since we children are on a separate floor, and there''s a door between the balcony and our hall, in the summer Kaho never wears anything at all when she''s at home.  She says it''s because she gets too hot and sweaty, and that way she doesn''t have to wash her clothes so often."


    He lightly pounded his left fist in his right palm and turned to Hibiki questioningly, "Oh I see.  So that''s it.  Do all girls do that?"


    Hibiki''s answer was both gentle and a bit sharp, "Do what?  You need to explain what you are thinking when you ask questions that only someone reading your mind can answer.  Uh, you do not read minds too, do you?"


    Jason hastily shook his head.  "No. Not at all.  Even when Yoko is concentrating hard on something I just sorta feel the general idea of what she''s thinking.  It''s not like its words."


    He nodded.  "I understand.  I''ll explain.  When Kaho started changing, I mean from looking like a little girl and toward looking like a woman, I''d hear her talking to herself now and then.  She''d ask if she were ''always going to be flat like this'' or ''are my hips ever going to start to grow'' and things like that.  Sometimes she''d even come ask me if I thought she were growing.  Then she''d turn around in a circle.  She always seemed really anxious for some reason.


    "Of course I always answered ''yes''.  I mean, she''d been getting taller her whole life, and she hadn''t stopped yet.  It was so obvious.  I still can''t see why she''d bother to ask me that."


    Yoko had swallowed by then so the laughter hit him from both sides.  Yoko had fallen to the floor and was rolling back and forth.


    Jason looked on with a mixture of surprise and exasperation.  He''d definitely said something funny and he wanted to know what it was.  He liked making people laugh.  He hoped they''d hurry up and finish laughing so they could explain.


    The twins had a quick conversation in "twin 2" and decided it was Yoko''s turn.  She was blushing, but she held her head up and looked straight at him.  "Jason dear, it''s like this.  There''s this thing they call ''body image''.  Every girl going through puberty has worries about it.  We''re changing into women.  It''s exciting but also somewhat scary.  After all, you''re changing from what is, in a way, a sexless being and becoming an adult who can bear children.


    "Every woman knows that men like looking at women.  Most of the time the first thing they look at is a woman''s breasts.  It''s not really very nice, but that''s the way humans are built.  It''s not entirely under their control.  We don''t mind so much if they just glance at us, but it gets really uncomfortable if they stare at our chests.


    "Even so, growing breasts is proof that we''re becoming adults.  That''s what your sister was really asking you about.  She wanted you to confirm that she was truly becoming a woman."


    Jason nodded his understanding.  "Oh, I see now.  I think I gave her the right answer, but for the wrong reason.  Is that right?"


    The girls nodded at him, then he turned to look at Yoko.  "I see.  I see.  Then that means that when you were looking at yourself so hard in the mirror, you were worried about when your breasts would start growing."


    He smiled at her.  "Don''t worry.  Kaho didn''t really start to grow that way till she was nearly 15.  You still have plenty of time."


    Yoko was crimson by the time he finished.  She wasn''t sure whether she wanted to kill him for being insensitive or hug him for understanding.  What she did was utter a gruff, "I''ve got to get back to work," pick her pencil up off the floor, and then start drawing again.


    Jason was somewhat perplexed.  He had now learned enough about such things to realize that he''d probably done something right, but also probably not in the right way.


    Hibiki took his hand and pulled him over to a pair of chairs where they sat while she spent the next 20 minutes explaining to him, in vivid detail, the changes a woman goes through, how she feels about them, and what men are and are not supposed to say about them and when.  When she''d finished that, her sense of humor tripped up her common sense and charged ahead before it could recover.


    That was when she began to delve into some of the more, shall we say "frank" parts of the relations between men and women.  It seemed that nobody had ever talked to Jason about sex.  Even though it would be several years yet before they would put what she was describing into practice, she was a strong believer in the saying: "Anticipation is the best foreplay."


    She knew she wasn''t supposed to know what that meant, but, at the moment she didn''t care, and it did seem to fit the situation.  Besides, she obtained a great deal of pleasure from seeing Jason squirm.  She''d been whispering, using her regular voice, so Yoko had no chance of overhearing.  She hadn''t wanted to be interrupted by her sister exploding.


    Both girls finished at about the same time.  Yoko stretched and yawned. "FINISHED!"


    Before the echo died down, Blair swept into the room, picked up the final three copies of Avi''s portrait, then vanished out the door again.


    Yoko turned and saw the others sitting in the corner.  Jason blushed and refused to meet her eyes.  Hibiki looked like a cat who''d not only discovered a bowl of cream but had drunk every bit of it before any of the other cats found out.  She was also purring.


    Yoko planted her fists on her hips, and glared at her sister.  "Exactly what have you been doing?"


    Hibiki contrived to look innocent. "Who me?  Not much."


    Then she let her expression change to one that was, on the whole, extraordinarily sensual.  "I just explained some things to Jason about how girls change when they mature and what it is safe for him to say about it.  After that we still had time.  You were drawning and there was not  much else to do, so I explained everything to him.  And by ''everything'' I mean everything about men and women''s relations."


    Right at the end, she opened a channel to her sister and let her emotions flow through it before she closed it off again.


    Yoko spun around and squatted on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees.  She shut off everything she could insofar as radiating emotions was concerned.  One thing she absolutely didn''t want Jason to know was how she was feeling.  She was mortified, scared, very angry at her sister, and at the same time strangely excited.


    Jason started to go to her to ask what was wrong, but Hibiki restrained him.  "It would be best to grant her some private time.  She is tired and needs to sort some things out in her mind.  She will be fine.  Even for twins like us, it is sometimes necessary to be by one''s self."


    Jason nodded.  "Well, if you say so, then I guess it''s OK."


    Hibiki nodded back, took him by the hand and led him out of the room, carefully closing the door behind her.  Then she continued on to her room.  It was unlikely that anyone would come looking for them for a while, and she was still intensely stimulated.  She convinced herself that just kissing would be safe, and right then would be a good time to practice and learn how to do it properly.


    Once in her room she explained her thinking to Jason who nodded and said, "That makes sense.  We need to learn, and we don''t have anything else to do right now."


    His comment was anything but romantic, but by then she was so excited that she no longer cared.  When they surfaced some 10 minutes later he realized that he''d learned something very important.  There were some things about human relations that you couldn''t analyze rationally or learn about properly from even a detailed description.  Some things you just had to experience for yourself.


    A small hand reached up, snaked itself behind his neck, and pulled gently but insistently.  It seemed that Hibiki had decided that there was time for a bit more kissing practice.  As always in such situations, he deferred to her judgement.

 Vol 2 - Ch 5 Now what?

    Friday, October 16 in the Year 723 After the Founding


    Had anyone in The City paid attention the next morning, they might have noticed a few unfamilliar faces among the militia and the Guard.  Even some bouncers at the casinos and taverns were new.   But, what with the Festa weekend beginning that evening, there wasn''t anything particularly unusual about unfamiliar faces.  All of these groups and places pulled in extra personnel for every Festa.


    That these new people directed suspicious looks at every single adult that passed by, and not a few teens, was somewhat unusual, but, given how young they obviously were, it could be put down to them being overly zealous new recruits and employees who were trying to impress their superiors/employers.  The reality was that each one was an experienced agent working for either Blair, Hiroshi, or Miranda.  Every one of them had seen Avi''s portrait.  They all had been instructed that, should they recognize Avi, they were to do nothing other than continue to scan the crowd as they had been before they saw him.  Only after he was out of sight were they to contact their twin and report his location and direction.


    The plan was workable and made sense.  The only problem was that Avi, whoever he really was, had eluded capture for at least 12 years.  While it was true that very few people knew what he looked like, some of his victims had had elaborate security precautions that should have kept out any stranger who tried to enter.  Nobody should have been able to reach them.  Unfortunately the saying about his skills was undeniably true.  He could indeed, "kill one person at a banquet and leave the other 99 alive, but he can also kill 99 and leave just one living."  The bodies he''d left behind gave ample proof.


    That same morning, Miranda was again sitting in Blair''s office.  "We have one thing going for us, no, that''s not right, probably two.  Unfortunately there are numerous unanswered questions."


    Blair gave her an encouraging look, so she continued, "First of all it would seem that Avi doesn''t use a disguise unless he''s about to strike.  Otherwise we wouldn''t have been able to recognize him from Yoko''s drawing.  The only reason we know what he looks like is that he wasn''t disguised when we saw him outside the party where he killed Baroness Hauptman four years ago.  He obviously changed his looks after he entered.  If he hadn''t, we''d have seen him when he left since there was only the one door to the outside."


    She sighed.  "Would that we had known that the person we saw at that time was him.  Hindsight is so incredibly accurate and useless....


    "At any rate, the second thing we know is that...  Oh blast!  I can''t remember what number two is.  I didn''t get much sleep last night.  Did you?"


    "Not really Manda.  But I think I know what your number two is.  This is the first time, ever, that we''ve known in advance that he was planning a murder and what city it will occur in.


    "Now dear, please continue.  Tell me your unknowns. Maybe we can figure out a way to ''know'' at least some of them."


    "Right Blair.  First of all, he may not be using disguises at all.  Given that nobody has ever seen him leaving the scene of a murder, and given that yesterday we learned of three new mental/magic/whatever skills, it stands to reason that he may have some sort of concealment ability like Genie has.  I must confess to blinders in that area.  There are so few mage talents that duplicate in any given generation that I totally discounted the possibility that he might have one, or possibly even more.  If he does though, that makes our task that much more difficult."


    They lapsed into silence, working at thinking of options and countermeasures.


    They were interrupted by a hesitant knocking on the door.  Both of them subtly shifted their positions so as to have better access to their weapons.  Everyone in the household knew not to ever knock when the door was closed.  The logical assumption was that there was a stranger outside.


    That assumption was proven wrong by a soft voice, "Mother, I know the rules, but this is important.  We need to speak to you, right now."


    "Very well, come in."


    The door opened slowly.  Once again the ladies were surprised as not just Yoko and Hibiki entered but also Jason, who carefully but firmly closed the door behind him.  Then the three of them put their heads together.  Their observers discerned that they were having a discussion, or possibly an argument.


    Both Blair and Miranda raised eyebrows.


    Finally the trio reached a decision.  Yoko spoke first, "Mother, there''s something we need to tell you, but we want to make it accurate and brief,"  She smiled at her mother, "Just like you taught us."


    She nodded to the other children. "So Jason is going to go first, then Biki will tell you the rest."


    While she was talking Yoko surprised both Miranda and Blair by silently walking to Miranda and then whispering in her ear, "First ya need ta make it so nobody outside can hear us, please?"


    The idea of an eavesdropper in this particular household was ludicrous, not to mention that she had no idea how Yoko knew of her ability, but, given the extraordinary circumstances, Miranda waved a hand at the door and wove a silence across that wall.    Yoko turned to Hibiki and nodded.  Then Hibiki tugged slightly on Jason''s sleeve


    "Ah, yes, well, it''s like this.  I came over this morning to visit the girls and we were..."  He was interrupted by Hibiki stomping, none to gently on his toes.


    He winced and went on, "I''m sorry, I tend to get distracted.  I''m trying to do better.  Anyway I could feel you worrying, a lot, about something.  Then I felt like it had something to do with not seeing something.  The three of us talked about it and decided that we should tell you."


    "Tell us what Jason?" queried Blair.


    "Ah, it''s Hibiki''s turn now, isn''t it Biki?"


    She nodded and took up the narrative, "After what we saw yesterday, and what you had us, Yoko, do, and what we overheard -- you were not being all that careful with what you said last night you know -- and combining that with what Jason sensed just now, we figured that you might be worried about this Avi person being able to turn invisible, or something like that.  Maybe?"


    Miranda nodded slowly. "And?"


    "And, well, we thought that we ought to tell you that we," she pointed to herself and Yoko, "can see someone when they are working a spell that makes it so other people cannot see them."


    She looked down at the floor and mumbled, "Would that be of any use to you at all?"


    This pronouncement was followed by absolute silence for a good 10 seconds.  Miranda broke it by saying, "Well, that firmly puts me in my place.  I guess I really hadn''t believed that I could have missed something like that.  I only mentioned it for the sake of being thorough."


    She turned to Hibiki.  "Biki dear, how long have you been able to do that?"


    She turned to Yoko and had a brief "twin" conversation.  "Uh, we are not entirely certain.  We just became aware of it ourselves the time Genie sneaked into our classroom right after we started at Chapman.  We were never able to ascertain why she did.  She watched us for a few minutes, then she stared at the ceiling for the rest of the hour.  She exited when the teacher did.


    "Oh, and Jason said that she looked sad and that it probably had something to do with the reception after Sara and Paolo''s wedding."


    She startled everyone in the room with a loud shriek, "Wait a minute!  Jason, you could not know that unless you saw her too!  Why did you not say anything?"


    He turned a quizzical, irritated face toward her.  "I don''t know what you mean.  I told you at lunch that day how she looked.  How could I have known that if I hadn''t seen her?"


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    Hibiki and Yoko both had dismayed expressions.  They''d been so excited and upset about learning that Jason could speak "twin" with them, that they''d never considered that he''d had to have seen Genie.


    While the children were speaking, Blair and Miranda exchanged a long look, then nodded.  The reason Eugenia had visited the classroom was obvious.  Perhaps they did need more security when they were "alone."  It seems that a certain precocious, trainee spy had been more active than they realized.


    This time Yoko spoke up, "We still don''t know why she was there.  Maybe ya could ask her.  She''s hiding outside right now.  We saw her when we came to talk to ya.  Since we weren''t sure if she was doing something you wanted her ta do or not, we pretended that we didn''t see her."


    She faced Miranda.  "That''s why I asked ya ta put up a silence.  Just in case she wasn''t supposed ta be listening."


    Miranda stood, walked over to the door, and took hold of the handle.  "Which side is she on, and how far away."


    "She was leaning on the wall about a half meter to the left.  Ah, your left if you face the door."


    Miranda jerked the door open.  Her hand flashed out toward what appeared to be empty space against the wall.  When her hand encounted cloth she grabbed it and jerked it toward her.  The next thing she knew she was looking at her daughter''s face from about 10 centimeters away.


    "You, inside, now!"


    Not giving Eugenia any choice, she pulled her inside, closed the door, then put up her silence again.


    She pointed at the chair that appeared in front of Blair''s desk.  "Sit!"


    All four children headed toward the center of the room.  When Miranda commanded, everyone obeyed.


    "Not all of you, just Eugenia."


    The other three withdrew as far as they could.  Nobody wanted to be the object of Miranda''s wrath, ever.  They''d have preferred not to even be in the room, but with the door closed, they were trapped.


    Blair tipped her chair back with her hands behind her head, then leaned forward and looked at the twins and Jason.  "Do you have any other hidden skills that you haven''t told us about yet?"


    The girls shook their heads "no" then said in unison, "At least not that we know of."


    Blair looked at Jason.  He obviously had something to say.


    "Go ahead Jason, this is important so take your time and tell us everything that''s pertinent.  However please remember that we''re pressed for time and do your best not to go off on a tangent, OK?"


    "Yes Mother, I will."


    Blair just stared at him and blinked.  "What did you call me?"


    "''Mother''.  I''m sure you heard me.  I didn''t mumble or say it in ''twin'',  he looked at Yoko and Hibiki, "Did I?"


    They had both facepalmed, but still managed to shake their heads "no."


    Blair took two deep breaths.  "I see that my question was in error.  What I should have asked was, ''Why did you call me that?''"


    Jason''s reply was clear and succinct.  "We are going to get married when we''re older.  When we do, that will make you my other mother."


    He blushed slightly, and looked embarrassed.  "I just wanted to try saying it."


    Blair''s attention was distracted by Eugenia blowing her nose on her handkerchief.  Tears were streaming down her face, and she was hunched over as if she had just received a great blow. Blair realized that she probably had.  Suspecting something and having absolute knowledge of it were two different kettles of fish.  Her eyes flicked to Miranda who gestured assent.  She''d take care of that part of things later.


    Blair picked up the thread of conversation, "I''m sorry Jason, I told you to not get distracted from the topic then I did just that.  I do want to say one thing though.  Please don''t call me ''Mother'' again until after you''re married.  It''s not something acceptable before that."


    He looked over to the twins who still had their faces in their hands, but they did both nod at him.  "All right Mrs. Macklin.  I won''t.  Ah, yes, getting back to your question.  It''s highly unlikely that they, we, have any other abilities.  We''ve already manifested all of those our many times great-grandmother had."


    Suddenly every eye in the room was fixed on him, even Eugenia''s.  Blair said only, "Explain."


    He stood stock still for about 20 seconds then nodded to himself.  That would work and would probably be the fastest way to tell it.


    "It was about a week after Yoko gave my other mother that geneaolgy scroll.  I looked it over the next day and saw that she''d drawn in some of Johann''s other wife''s descendents.  You know, the one called Raven.  There were a lot of unfinished areas, and I knew that she''s not the type to leave things unfinished."


    He turned to Yoko.  "I must admit that it was the perfect bait to hook my mother with though.  Show her a history puzzle and she''ll swallow it all the way down on the first bite."


    Everyone turned to see Yoko standing slack-jawed with astonishment.  "How..how did you..."


    Jason smiled slightly and said, "Dear one.  I may be ''socially inept'', but I''m not stupid.  It was pretty obvious what you were doing."


    He asked hesitantly, "Is it OK to call Yoko and Hibiki ''dear one'' now, or does that have to wait too?"


    Hibiki took that one.  "It is still a bit premature.  I shall explain it to you later when we have some free time."


    Jason nodded his thanks, noticing at the same time that Eugenia had buried her face in her hands again.  It hurts to have something painful that you''ve just learned rubbed in, even if it was unintentional.


    "Well, anyway, Mother wasn''t able to get to it right away, but I was free, so I went to see Sara and Paolo.  I figured that I could reconstruct what Yoko had done and then tell my mother.  After I got there and told her what I wanted to do, Sara explained to me why I shouldn''t do that."


    He smiled and said, "Mrs. Macklin she''s awfully nice, isn''t she?  She''s the first person besides my mother and the twins to be that nice to me."


    He didn''t notice Eugenia folding herself so far that she almost looked like a ball.


    Blair made an "and then" gesture, so he continued, "That''s when I remembered something I''d read in the family library a year earlier.  There was a history that mentioned an ancestor of ours with the same surname as one of the people on Yoko''s chart."


    He looked up and realized he''d better make it even shorter than he''d planned.  "Yes.  While I was sorting things out, Paolo let me look at a diary he''d found.  It talked about Johann and Lilly and Raven and said what their abilities were and how they used them.  Something awful happened to Raven before she married Johann, but Paolo didn''t let me read that part.  He said maybe when I was older."


    Seeing the others strained faces, he went on, "OK, even shorter, I can do that.


    "I put everything together, and even checked it all twice, and checked it all over again after we saw what Eugenia did in the classroom.  That''s why I said ''our'' many times great grandmother.  My father''s, mother''s family is descended from Lily Kastner, just as yours is Mrs. Macklin.  As best I can figure, Yoko, Hibiki and I are 32nd cousins.


    Into the surprised silence he added, "And Eugenia is our cousin too, but she''s descended from Johann''s other wife, Raven, from her daughter Aradia.  Raven''s strongest talent was the ability to make it so nobody could see her, as long as they were at least a meter away from her.  Genie can do better than that, I think.


    "Lily was the only person, besides her mother, who could see Raven when she was hiding that way.  She could also tell exactly what anyone around her was feeling, ever since she was little.  That''s why she was a secret advisor to Duchess Abigail.  She could always tell when someone was lying.  Always. That''s more than I can do.  I have to be concentrating, at least a little, on what someone is saying to tell if they''re lying.


    "I don''t think I''d like it very much if I could feel everything all the time anyway.  I already know that a lot of people don''t like me very much."


    The twins rushed over to him, wrapped their arms around him, and nuzzled him with their cheeks.


    He looked down at them tenderly.  "But I don''t care about that so much anymore."


    Eugenia looked up at the three of them and smiled.  It was weak, but it was a real smile.  She admitted to herself that she''d lost, and that was that.  She also had just realized that seeing that someone you love dearly is happy is of itself a very satisfying thing.  Besides, once he married the twins, he''d be her relative by marriage, which would make him family.  That was a lot better than not being around him at all.


    Miranda and Blair were blotting their eyes as well, though for different reasons.  Miranda drawled, "Well cousin, it''s no wonder that we think so much alike.  It''s in the blood."


    Blair smiled back at her.  "Indeed cousin.  I believe you''re right.  I was wondering how random chance could produce two such devious women in the same generation.  Now I know that it''s only the result of inbreeding."


    That set both of them laughing.  None of the children caught the reference, so they just looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.  That was one more thing they''d have to learn later.


    Once they''d wound down to occasional snickers, Blair and Miranda turned as one to the children, and Blair said, "You children go downstairs and get yourselves a snack, but don''t leave.  Once we figure out what to do with you, we''ll need to coordinate with Hiroshi, Duchess Henrietta, and Captain Murray directly.  Now shoo!"


    The four of them fled out the door and closed it.  The twins hurried ahead, exchanging ideas in "twin" about what might happen and what they could do to help.  They didn''t notice that Eugenia and Jason had lagged behind, mainly because Genie had stepped in front of him and stopped moving.


    "So tell me Jason, I hear you got here rather early today.  What were you and the girls doing?"  She was proud of herself.  She''d used every trick of expression she''d been taught to put him at ease and get him to answer before he could think.


    "Oh that.  We were practicing kissing.  Yoko and I that is.  Hibiki and I decided that since we did it last night, it was Yoko''s turn this morning.  Biki was listening at the door to make sure than nobody walked in on us.  That''s beca...."


    Anything else he might have said was muffled as the twins tackled him to the floor and put all four of their hands over his mouth.


    Eugenia smirked at them.  "I see.  I see. Children nowadays can certainly be precocious.  Well, well."


    Leaving the others in a pile on the floor, she ambled downstairs, then into the kitchen, and told Cook that Blair had said that the four of them could ask for a snack.

 Vol 2 - Ch 6

    After the door had been firmly closed, and Miranda had put up her silence field again, Blair leaned back, stretched, and asked, "You want to do it first or me?"


    She paused briefly then said, "Maybe you should go first.  You only have to deal with one child and I have three."


    Smiling wryly she added, "Since Akane can''t be here, I feel I should speak for Jason too."


    Miranda plopped herself down on the chaise and stretched out.  "You might as well let me say it for all of them.  What we both want to say boils down to pretty much the same thing.  The only difference is that Eugenia has already declared for this occupation.  Whether or not the others will at some time in the future isn''t something we''ll discover for years."


    Blair nodded.  "Be my guest.  I don''t really feel like talking right now anyway.  You talk.  I''ll brood."


    "OK.  Sounds fair."


    Miranda ticked her points off on her fingers:


    "1) They''re much too young to get involved in something like this.


    "2) They have absolutely no idea of what or how to do what we''re going to ask of them.


    "3) We both know that incompletely or improperly trained agents have a tendency to end up injured, crippled, or dead.


    "4) This time they''re OUR children, and we''d rather be dead ourselves rather than risk them getting even a skinned knee."


    She threw her forearm over her face so her tears could soak into her sleeve instead of running down her cheeks.   Her slightly muffled voice finished with, "That covers about everything doesn''t it?"


    There was a strained silence for a full 30 seconds before Blair spoke, "Yes, I think it does.  So let''s get down to brass tacks.  How are we going to arrange things so the risk to them is as little as possible?


    "Obviously we can''t have them patrolling the streets and hoping that they spot Avi if he''s using an invisibility spell or something similar.  None of them have the ability to control their faces enough to convincingly pretend that they didn''t see him."


    "You''re right Blair, and we probably don''t have to.  The first thing I did this morning was order that anyone I could think of as a conceiveable target was to be moved into the guest suites at the ducal residence by 2 p.m., which makes the area we MUST cover much smaller."


    "Manda dear, don''t you think that it might make Avi just a TAD suspicious when he finds out about it?"


    Miranda sat up on the side of the chaise and supported her trunk with her arms.  "I don''t think so.  I have my rumor mongers spreading word about it being Baron Svensson''s birthday tomorrow.  Duchess Henrietta has, as a show of gratitude for his travelling here to negotiate a new trade treaty, invited all those he planned to meet, along with any nobles in town, to a surprise banquet this evening and a huge birthday party tomorrow, before negotiations begin on Monday.  I seriously doubt that anyone will refuse to go.  There''s no way that any of the invitees would stay away from  a chance to make a profit.


    "It''s going to seem that she''s trying to soften him up so as to get some concessions that the King''s envoy might not otherwise be able to negotiate."


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    Blair steepled her fingers and pondered.  "Yes.... That should work.  Avi must be extremely paranoid to have survived this long, but this isn''t totally unheard of.   I can think of three previous  ''spontaneous'' parties of this size here and there in the past seven years or so.  They were all in the South, but I''m sure Avi must have heard of at least one of them.


    "We''re going to have to do this without increasing the guards at the gates or inside the residence,  unless we can fabricate a darned good reason.  If we add more randomly, the chance of him cutting and running is probably near 100%."


    Miranda stood and began to pace, following the wear patterns in the carpet from other feet that had done the same during other perilous situations.  "True.  Definitely true.  However, I think I know how to handle it and still keep the children safe.


    "Jason will be our first line of defense, if you will.  We''re fortunate that the main gate is the only entrance other than the one that takes you through the Guard quarters.  Even Avi''s not likely to chance that.  We''re going to have to test Jason, but if he was feeling and seeing what Yoko felt and saw when he was at home, his range for sensing strong emotions has to be at least four hundred meters.  Unless it''s only that far with someone he''s ''linked'' to.  We''ll have to test that too.


    "Anyway, we can put him and a couple of guards in that little room directly above the doors to the residence.  We''ll have one guard standing, just as always, and the other and Jason can be sitting out of sight.  He doesn''t need to see Avi, he just has to ''feel'' him.  I think that the second guard should be one of Hiroshi''s advanced students though, just in case, don''t you think?"


    Blair closed her eyes, and pulled up her mental map of The Residence.  "Yes, that will work.  There''s enough room for three people there, even if it is a bit cramped.  And also yes to your other suggestion.  Hiroshi''s best students have all been thoroughly trained in close-quarters combat, with or without weapons.


    "I think we''re also going to want to make sure that the visible guard looks bored out of his skull.  I assume you have someone in mind for that?"


    "Hah!  Who do you think I am?  Of course I do."


    Miranda peered at Blair.  "You must really be worried to ask such a stupid question.  This time though I''ll give you a bye.  I''m probably just as worried as you are."


    Blair gave Miranda a mocking bow.  "Oh thank you soooo much."


    Her expression became more serious.  "And the twins?"


    "Inside but up on that balcony running around the main hall.  Since it''s on the second floor, there''s already very limited access from both the inside and outside.  Once we get them up there, we''ll make sure that there isn''t any access at all.  We''ll physically block off the doors to the stairs on the inside, and close and bar the storm shutters for the rooms on the third floor, if they aren''t already.  Nobody likes those rooms anyway.


    "I know.  I know.  That might make it more enticing to Avi.  But let''s do this too.  We''ll have more ''bored'' guards stationed on the side and back walls, and we''ll put them just 10 feet apart.  They''ll complain about being pulled in to work on their day off.  They''ll talk about gambling, and mostly they''ll talk about their romantic encounters.  Not all at once, of course, but one or two of them often enough that anyone below them who might try those walls to get in will know that there''s no chance of not being seen.


    "That''s going to leave the front entrance as the only possible way in.  Mind you I think that''s what he''ll do anyway.  He''s a brazen fellow.  That''s how he must have gotten in when he assassinated Count Pushkin.  The only way in was past the guards and everyone else at the meeting."


    Blair nodded agreement.  "Yes. That sounds good.  We can put the girls in those little cubbyholes on either side of the long axis.  If we put them in page uniforms and put their hair up under those cute little caps the pages wear, they''ll look like boys.  We can have the seneschal give them hand signals now and then and have one or the other scurry off for a couple of minutes before they come back."


    "That''s not entirely a bad idea Blair, but probably he should do it not more than twice altogether.  More than that would be out of character for a page up there.  Pages are assigned there mostly to watch and see how to behave properly when they get old enough to be given more responsibility."


    "Yes, OK.  We can do it that way.  Let''s get them back up here and go over it.  I''ll have to explain things to Akane somehow, and I have no idea at all what I''m going to tell her."


    "Honey, that''s going to have to wait.  First we have to see if we can keep Avi''s target alive, and then make sure that none of our guards or operatives end up dead."


    Neither one of them had the strength to add, "Or our children."

 Vol 2 - Ch 7 Sick as a dog? No, its worse than that.

    The children were summoned and dutifully appeared almost immediately, though how they appeared prompted a great deal of consternation in both Miranda and Blair.  Jason was panting, sweating profusely, and none too steady on his feet.  Following him were the twins with Eugenia between them and with her arms around their shoulders.  All three were staggering like the proverbial drunken sailors.  There was also a particularly acrid odor which told their mothers that some or all of them had recently been vomiting.


    As their mothers hastened over, Eugenia interrupted them with a weakly raised hand.  Without looking up she croaked, "No.  Don''t bother.  I don''t think I''m going to die.  That was five minutes ago.  Now I only wish I were dead."


    Without moving she said, "Yoko, Biki, just lower me to the floor.  I think I''ll stretch out on the carpet.  I don''t think I could handle a chair right now."


    The twins looked at each other, then gently lowered Eugenia to the floor and helped her stretch out.  Immediately thereafter they too found open areas and laid themselves down.


    Their mothers spoke rapidly, on top of each other,  "What in the world?  Was the food poisoned?  Is anyone else sick?   If you need to throw up again, do it in the trash can, not on the floor.  Do you need medication?  Are you sure you''re going to be OK?"


    They might have gone on, just spinning their wheels, had Jason not intervened.  That alone shocked them into temporary silence.  They''d never heard him initiate a conversation before.


    "Ah.  Excuse me?  I think I can explain."


    He hung his head slightly and continued in a quieter voice, "It''s OK if I do it, isn''t it?  You won''t get mad if I don''t let you talk first, what with you being adults and this being your house?"


    Blair surprised both of them by walking over and hugging him tightly.  "No Jason.  I know I said that you shouldn''t call me "Mother" yet, but it''s OK for you to think of this as your second home.  So you just go ahead and tell us what happened, OK?


    "But sit down first.  You don''t look as bad as the girls, but you certainly don''t look good."


    "Thank you Mrs. Macklin.  I am feeling sorta, well, I guess the best word is ''rotten''."


    Jason semi-collapsed onto a nearby chair then waited while Miranda and Blair re-seated themselves.


    Seeing them turn to him, he began, "Well, ah, we were talking out in the courtyard while we ate our snacks.  What we were talking about was talking.  Uh, talking in ''twin''.  I''m not sure why, but all of a sudden all four of us had the same idea.  We figured that it would be really useful if Genie could talk in twin too.  To tell the truth, I''m still not sure why, but I know that we all were sure that it was important somehow."


    His voice trailed off, and he appeared to be trying to puzzle out why such an insane idea had come to him...them.


    Since his head had been hanging down while he spoke he hadn''t noticed that as soon as he said that the idea had struck all four of them at once, Blair and Miranda''s heads had snapped up and they''d looked intently at each other.  They might as well have been twins at that moment for their thoughts were identical.  "You don''t suppose...."


    Immediately they heard a momentary, high pitched sound, much like wind chimes.  It disappeared as quickly as it had come.


    So, "she" had intervened.  They knew that there were a number of constraints on Lady Blue''s actions in their world.  Somehow she''d always managed to avoid telling them what they were or how they worked.


    They nodded at each other and Miranda spoke, "Jason.  Did you have to think about how to do it, or did the way to do it just suddenly appear in your mind like the idea to try did?"


    He slowly raised his head and looked at her.  "No Mrs. Donetti.  That''s a lot of what we talked about.  We finally figured out that it might work if we set it up so it was sorta like how it was when I learned.  It was Yoko''s idea that the three of us stand around Genie like a triangle, and Hibiki thought it would help if we touched her.


    "So what we did is they put their hands on her shoulders, and I held her hands. Then we just sorta, I guess ''pushed'' is the best word.  We pushed really, really hard.  For me it felt like I was trying to pull aside a really big, heavy curtain.  I''m not sure what the girls felt."


    He looked in their direction then winced.  "Ow!  Right now talking ''twin'' really hurts.  They said that they''ll tell you later.  Then don''t even want to use their regular voices right now.  They''re afraid they might start throwing up again."


    Miranda and Blair both looked even more anxious than they had before, but they clamped their jaws shut.  This was obviously very important.


    "Anyway, I was getting pretty tired.  It was almost like when the girls first took me out walking when I was fat.  That was hard.  You know I....  Never mind.


    "Just when we were about ready to give up, something popped and we could talk to Genie.  But at first it wasn''t like ''twin'' at all.  It was more like we could see everything she was thinking and feeling."


    His face softened, and his voice became somewhat husky, "They''re not angry with her now, and they aren''t jealous any more either.  That''s because we could all see that she truly does love me and how much she''s hurting because she can''t be with me this time."


    Puzzlement washed over his face.  "I don''t know exactly what they did, but that''s when Yoko and Hibiki pushed me out of Genie''s head.  I could tell that the three of them were talking, but it was really, really fast and I couldn''t hear any of it.  When they stopped I knew that they''d decided something though.  The twins would get to be with me now, and Genie''s turn would be later.


    "I''m not sure what that means though.  I''m sorry."  He hung his head again.


    Before either Blair or Miranda could say anything, Yoko levered herself up into a sitting position.  "I''m willing ta swear that we were talking for at least an hour, but Jason told us later it wasn''t but two or three minutes.  Well, anyway, we agreed that Genie wasn''t quite ready ta be Jason''s partner yet.  Hibiki and I have ta work with him a lot more before that can happen.


    "She needs someone to help her too."  She looked at directly at Miranda.  "She has the same problem as Jason does, ya know.  It''s not as bad, but it''s there.  We promised ta help her find someone who can help her the way we''re helping Jason.  Since she''s not as badly affected, she won''t need ta be with twins.  Just one man will be enough, if it''s the right one."


    Her smile was on the ragged side, but clearly sincere.  "And Biki and I are gonna make sure it IS the right man."


    She climbed to her feet, and wobbled her way to a chair.  "After that all of us went over to the drain in the courtyard and puked up our guts.   Genie had it worse, probably cause all three of us sort beat up on her inside her head.  I guess the rest of us just maybe caught the fringes."


    She stood and bowed slightly to their mothers.  "Mama, we''re wasted.  Will ya ask for some sweetened tea for us.  The taste in our mouths is vile."


    Blair used a special bell pull that she ordinarly used only when the happenings in her office needed to be totally unnoticed by the regular staff.  The person who appeared didn''t show any signs of surprise when he entered the room, but rather stood quietly.


    "Please bring up a large pot of sweetened tea."


    He nodded, turned, and quietly closed the door.


    Jason suddenly stood and looked extremely puzzled as he said, "I''m supposed to tell you that what we just did can''t be duplicated.  The only reason it worked was because there were three of us helping Genie to learn how, and because she was, is, in love with me.  She says, ''those exact circumstances will never happen again, so don''t even think of trying to do anything similar with your agents''."


    He sat back down and apologized, "I''m very sorry.  I don''t know why I said that."


    Blair stood and hugged him again.  "Don''t be sorry Jason.  Manda and I know what it means.  You did just fine."


    He looked up at her.  "I did?"


    Seeing her nod, his face lit up with the first truly happy smile she''d seen.  She gave him another quick hug then resumed her seat.  "Well Manda, are you thinking what I''m thinking?"


    "Of course cousin, how could I not.  This fixes the one hole in the plan; specifically how do the twins or Jason let us know if they spot Avi when none of them will be able to move from their positions.


    "Genie can be on the ground floor with Hiroshi and tell him who and where.  If a fight breaks out, it''s highly unlikely that she''d be a target, but there''s always a chance that she could accidently get in the way or be pulled in some other way.  She has the best chance of keeping herself alive.  Hiroshi says that she''s learning the art faster than any of his other students in the past three years."


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    From the floor a walrus rasped, "He did?  Really?  That''s great!"


    That was followed immediately by, "OW!  My head!!"


    Four minutes later the ''servant'' re-entered the room with a very large pot of tea, six cups, and a large container of honey.


    Blair, Jason, and the twins did for themselves.


    Miranda made up a cup for Genie then knelt on the floor and carefully lifted her into a semi-sitting position, after which she helped Genie hold the cup to her lips and drink.


    Once each of the children had managed to down two cups of heavily sweetened tea, Miranda and Blair left the room, after giving the children instructions not to try to get up until after they got back.  As they were going downstairs Blair had a nagging feeling that there was still a loose end that needed tying up.  Even so, no matter how hard she pummeled her mind, she couldn''t think of what it might be.  What had just happened still had her partially stunned.


    Fortunately, maybe, the loose end chose that moment to burst in through the front door...in a dignified, feminine way, or at least that''s what Akane later convinced herself that she''d done.    As the flustered maid was trying to calm down the incensed person in front of her, said person spied Blair and Miranda on the stairs.


    "Just...what...are...you...doing with my son?!  Did you really think that I''d swallow that flimsy excuse you sent about why he was here so late last night.  And this morning too?  What in the name of God is going on here?"


    Blair recoiled in shock.  She''d never imagined that Akane Fukui would ever, could ever, turn into such a firebrand.  Miranda had had just a bit more sleep last night than Blair had, and a solution occured to her.  She stepped forward and took Akane''s hand.  "Well come cousin.  I''m glad you could make it on such short notice."


    She looked around as if just now noticing that they were still in the entry hall.  "But where are my manners.  Let''s go into the parlor."


    She turned as if to go into the visitor''s parlor, but then lightly bonked herself on the head with the heel of her hand.  "Oh. Please forgive me.  You''re family.  We should go to the family parlor."


    While Akane was momentarily in shock, Blair, who had quickly recovered, took her left elbow. Miranda took her right, and the two of them practically carried Akane down the hall, into the parlor, and kicked the door shut behind them.


    The staff, who had been recruited as much for their lack of curiosity as their skills, looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, then went back to what they''d been doing.  Minor commotions like this were so common that even the few staff who were a bit, shall we say ''flighty'', had long been inured to them.


    Akane however was not.  Also, her curiosity about the world was essentially boundless.  If not, she could never have become a good historian.  She rounded on Blair and demanded, "You WILL tell me what''s going on, and you can start with why Miranda called me ''cousin''.  That makes just as little sense as everything else!"


    Blair smiled at her gently, working her own personal magic, "You''re right.  I really should explain things to you, and I''ll start right now.   So if you''ll please be seated?  We''ll all be much more comfortable that way, and we," she pointed to Miranda and herself, "are exceedingly tired right now."


    At that point Akane had calmed enough that she was able to look at her hosts, and what she saw was awful.  Their hair was in disarray, their clothes were wrinkled, and they had big, dark circles under their eyes.  It was almost as if they''d stayed up most of the night and were still wearing the clothes they''d had on the day before.  Things were getting even more strange than she''d imagined, and, as we all know, she had a vivid imagination.


    Once Blair had sat down and stretched again, she pointed to Miranda.  "Your turn.  You started it.  You finish it."


    Manda nodded, then turned to Akane.  Not knowing her well, Akane was suddenly confused.  When they''d met before Miranda had been a congenial, and friendly -- though not overly friendly -- companion at tea.  This person was entirely different.  For starters she felt as if Miranda''s gaze was boring right through her.


    Before she could follow that thought anywhere, Miranda started, "You know that Yoko and Hibiki worked out their family history and that it led back to Johann Kastner, and Duke Alphonse through his wife Lily.  It seems that your Jason became interested in some of the "loose ends" as he called them, and pursued things further by prevailing on my Paolo to look for more records in the Little Cathedral.


    "Novice priests are usually given some sort of boring, tedious, but necessary jobs in order to test whether or not they can stand a life that is less, um, boisterous than one someone their age would normally have in a busy city.  Paolo''s task was to organize and catalog the parts of the library in the Little Cathedral that had been neglected.  In the process he found a set of diaries written by Baron Rinaldi, Duke Alphonse''s personal butler and head of staff.  After his death, they were continued by his son Peter, who served both Alphonse and Duchess Abigail."


    She momentarily glanced away from Akane, as if to gather her thoughts.  In reality she wanted to see Akane''s expression when she thought she wasn''t being observed.  Hah!  Hooked her.  Dangle a diary from a little-known period in front of a historian, especially if that period was important, and they instantly go weak in the knees from the excitement.


    She turned back and went on, "Paolo made the diaries available to Jason, with the stipulation that he index them, which, I''ve been told, he did quickly, accurately, and legibly.  In the process Jason discovered something Yoko didn''t, as no one had been aware of this particular source when they were working on their class project.  The names of Lily''s two daughters were Rosalie and Bernadette.  Yoko had only identified Rosalie.


    "Blair here," she nodded in her direction, "is descended from Rosalie.  Another thing Jason discovered was the lineage of descendents from Bernadette.  One of them, was Consuela Ingram.  I imagine that the name is familiar to you?


    "So to be short, Jason is also a direct descendent from Johann Kastner and Lily, which makes you Blair''s cousin by marriage.  The relationship is distant, but you are a cousin."


    Akane''s mouth had dropped open in surprise and shock.  Being a lady, she''d covered it with her hand.


    Miranda smirked at her as she said, "There''s just one more item you might find interesting.  Johann''s other wife Raven had three sets of twins.  The eldest were girls, Aradia and Carline.  Their next set were boys, Alphonse and Guiseppe.   I''d never made the connection, but then I''m not much interested in history."  She shrugged her shoulders in apology.


    "My maiden name was Kastner.  It seems that my father Ignatius is descended from Raven and Johann''s children.  I use the word ''children'' intentionally. One of Aradia''s great-granddaughters married one of the great-grandsons of her younger brother Guiseppe."


    By now Akane''s shock was so great that she was no longer making an effort to be "ladylike."  Both her hands had fallen to her lap and her mouth was hanging open wide enough to catch a small bird had one been handy.


    Miranda wrapped things up with a succinct, "As you see, I had a good reason to call you ''cousin'' cousin.  My side has a ''double shot'' of Kastner blood."


    Akane looked at Blair, as if to confirm that Miranda hadn''t just engaged in some sort of elaborate practical joke.  Blair nodded encouragingly.


    "Oh... My...."


    There was near silence for a full minute.  The only sound was a slight creaking from the furniture when someone changed position.


    Suddenly Akane sat up, assumed a formal position with one hand clasping the other and her back rigid.  "Miranda, when do you suppose that I might be able to discuss these diaries with your son?"


    Miranda looked at Blair.  Blair looked at Miranda.  Both of them looked at Akane.  Then Miranda folded herself double and Blair slid off the sofa, with her chest and left arm stretched out on the seat to support her.  Both of them were roaring with laughter.  Akane was frozen in place.  She had no idea what was going on or why.  Her confusion mounted when Blair and Miranda faced toward her, tears still running down their cheeks and gave her looks that clearly were intended as invitations to laugh with them.


    There was enough aristocratic idiocy still in her that she, almost, gave in to indignation.  Then her innate child, combined with the sudden recollection as to why she''d come today overrode, or perhaps it would be better to say "shattered" what was left of her old facade.  The next thing she knew she was on her knees, doubled over like Miranda, and laughing her head off.


    The thought that the indignant, protective mother had been pushed aside by the intense curiosity of the historian was hilariously funny.  After a minute though, she realized that it really wasn''t quite THAT funny no matter how you looked at it.


    Her analytical mind shifted into gear even though she was still laughing.  Blair and Miranda were also still laughing, but their laughter had just a hint of hysteria in it.  They were using the opportunity to laugh at her behavior to unwind from...something.  Something truly significant which was happening, or about to happen, and, whatever it was, they were in it up to their necks.  The probabilities also favored Jason factoring into the equation somehow as well.


    Since it was a Friday afternoon on the day before the Festa, she hadn''t expected to see the younger children around.  Her little one, Rebecca, was off playing with friends somewhere as well.  Nevertheless, the older children should have made an appearance, even if just to say hello briefly, especially as they were in the family parlor.


    She took a few deep breaths, pulled herself back onto her chair, fished a handkerchief out of her clutch, and carefully blotted her face.  She didn''t want to completely ruin her makeup.  As it was, she''d probably have to fix her face before she left.


    "Well cousins, I think I''m glad to be in the family.  The two of you are much more interesting than I''d ever imagined, and I have quite an imagination.  As a matter of fact, I used to imagine that you, Blair, might be a spy because you seem to, no, not ''seem'', you DO know a great deal about a number of things that a banker''s wife normally wouldn''t.  Or should I say ''shouldn''t''?"


    She raised an eyebrow as she asked the question.  She didn''t do it nearly as well as Miranda, but she hadn''t had all that much practice either.


    Blair raised her hand to prevent Akane from pursuing that particular topic.  "No Akane, I''m not a spy."


    (Remember class, she was the spymaster, not a spy herself anymore, so her statement was true -- as far as it went.)


    "I can tell you though that I am working with Duchess Henrietta on a project that I''m not yet at liberty to discuss."  She smiled broadly.  "Besides, it''s Miranda who''s the spy."


    If Miranda had had anything in her mouth, she would have produced a massive spit-take.  As it was she still found herself having a coughing fit.


    Akane looked back and forth from Miranda to Blair, several times.  Then she smiled and began laughing again, though not nearly as hard as before.  When she was able to speak she said, "Blair dear, I wish we''d become friends much sooner.  Your sense of humor is so adorable!  I really and truly believe that I might have been a nicer person to be around if I''d been able to laugh more."


    At that point she blushed brightly.  She''d finally acknowledged to herself, and the others, that she really had been, for quite a few years, what the children nowadays would call a "stuck-up bitch."  It wasn''t very pleasant to look at it, but there was a strong sense of relief as well.  Maintaining a facade for so long had been exhausting.


    "So, just between us cousins, what in Hades is going on that requires Jason''s presence and also explains why you two look like you were dragged in the dust for several hours?"


    Miranda and Blair looked at each other critically, for the first time that day noticing their appearance and were appalled.


    Akane smiled at their expressions then quietly said, "When we''re through talking, let me at least fix your hair for you.  I''m rather good at it."


    The other two exchanged a glance, then turned to Akane and smiled their thanks.  They''d have to bathe and change before the banquet, but having their hair done ahead of time would be most helpful.


    Blair stood, so the others did likewise.  "Akane, I think it''s best if you see the children first, before we talk about anything.  Will you come with me please?"


    "Of course.  Lead on."

 Vol 2 - Ch 8

    The first thing that Akane noticed when the door opened was the stench.  The room reeked of stale vomit.  The next thing she noticed was the three girls, who were once again stretched out on the floor.  Finally she saw Jason who turned a wan face to her and whispered, "Hi Mother, it''s been a busy day."


    Akane had lived most of her life abiding by what was "proper" but one thing that her grandparents had taught her, mostly by having her listen to their stories of how and why they''d fled Japan, was that sometimes what was "proper" was far less important than survival.  The children weren''t going to die from whatever it was.  If they were that ill, Blair and Miranda wouldn''t have left them here.


    She smelled honey.  Honey and tea.  She glanced around the room and spotted the teapot and the cups on the floor.  Good, they had some fluids and calories in them.  However the other ladies had sorely neglected what should have been done next.  Out of depths she didn''t know she had, "Drill Sergeant Fukui" made an appearance.


    "Blair-san, how many people can your biggest bathtub hold?"


    Obviously puzzled, both by the question and Akane''s sudden change in demeanor, she answered hesitantly, "Ah, six or seven easily, 10 to 12 if they''re good friends or family."


    "Yoroshii. You four children.  Stand up. NOW!"


    She watched them slowly climb to their feet, the twins still needing to assist Eugenia.  It was as she had thought.


    "Hibiki and Yoko.  You lead the way.  Jason, you help Genie.  When you get to the bathing facilities, help each other undress then wash that smell away.  Jason, the girls are much too weak to do it themselves, so you wash their hair, starting with Genie.  She needs to soak more than the others.  When you''ve finished, Yoko can do your hair.  Blair says that she always recovers faster than Biki.  After that, all of you are to soak for at least half an hour.  Just make sure that the water isn''t so hot that you pass out."


    She turned to Blair.  "I trust that you have the means to adjust the temperature?"


    Blair nodded dumbly.


    "Good.  Well, what are you waiting for, get to it!"


    Eugenia struggled to raise a hand, then rasped, "Mrs. Fukui?  Bathing with a boy who isn''t family?  That''s sorta...."


    Akane cut her off, "What it is, is necessary.  Besides you don''t have anything Jason hasn''t seen hundreds of times before.  His older sister never wears clothes when she doesn''t have to.  He''s not the type to lust after girls anyway, even ones as pretty as you are.


    "As for the twins, we haven''t had a formal bethrothal yet, but there isn''t anyone here who doesn''t know that they''ll be married when the time is right, so what does it matter when he first sees them unclothed."


    Hibiki levered herself around and gave Yoko an "I told you so" look.  Yoko''s only response was to  shrug her shoulders.  She was much too tired to blush, and besides, she didn''t think she ever would again when this particular subject arose.


    As they were all heading toward the door, Akane added, "Oh, Jason, before you get started washing, pile all your clothes by the door.  Blair can send someone to see if the stink can be washed out or if we''ll have to dispose of them.


    "Blair, if you don''t already have them in the dressing area, make sure that someone delivers some heavy robes for them to wear afterwards.  And no, I don''t want a maid to help them.  This is something they need to do together as a team."


    She turned to the children.  "Well what are you waiting for, GO!"


    They got.  Slowly and unsteadily, but they did go.


    Akane closed the door behind them.  "Miranda, seal it.  As soon as you''re finished I''m going to sit Akane down, then I''ll come and explain things to you."


    More chin dropping, this time on the part of Miranda and Blair. They hadn''t had an inkling.


    Immediately after Akane sat, there was a sudden, brief flash of blue light, then Lady Blue was standing in the middle of the room.   Surprisingly Akane''s expression was one of curiosity rather than surprise or fear.


    "That was an interesting experience.  From what you told me, you''re called Lady Blue.  I can see why.  Later on we''ll need to discuss a few things.  If something like this happens again, I''d prefer a bit more warning before you start using my body."


    Lady Blue bowed, deeply. "My apologies.  But if you think about it, I didn''t say a single thing that you didn''t want to yourself.  You weren''t going to though.  You thought it was ''improper'' to give orders in someone else''s home.  Now you know that sometimes that''s exactly what''s needed."


    "These dummies here," she pointed at Miranda and Blair, "weren''t thinking, at all.  They both know that the water from the spring helps heal things like this, but neither one of them thought about it.  They were too busy being shocked to turn their minds on.  They need to learn that sometimes you have to shut down your emotions long enough to think about options, especially on a battlefield -- and make no mistake, this is a battlefield -- no matter how tired or stressed you are.  If they''d been able to do that, you wouldn''t have had to."


    Akane raised her hand.  "Excuse me.  You said something about the children needing to do this as a team.  What did you mean by that?"


    Lady Blue looked carefully at Blair and Miranda.  "My god, you both missed that too.  Look at you.  Do you think that maybe, just maybe, the two of you are ready to quit playing and really get down to work?  It''s all well and good to be secretive, but you''re using other people''s lives.  You''re both good tacticians, but you need a strategist.  If you put that pudding between your ears into gear, you just might, maybe, realize that there''s someone who can handle that position quite nicely.


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    "If you need a hint, it''s someone you already know.  The bigger hint is that she''s in the room with you right now, and it isn''t me.  Is that enough of an explanation?"


    Without waiting for a reply she said, "Thought so.  See you later.  Bye."   Then she was gone.


    Akane was the first to fully recover from Lady Blue''s appearance even though the others had experienced her presence on multiple occasions in the past.  "My, that was...interesting.  And she was quite deft in avoiding my question.  Obviously you''ve had the somewhat dubious privilege of her presence on at least a few occasions in the past."


    She looked at them with just a hint of a challenge.  "I also expect that you''re going to fill me in on her place in the history of our city."


    Seeing their startled expressions she sighed loudly. "Both of you know her and clearly have for some time.  Combining that with what she just said, it''s quite logical to conclude that something at least moderately long-term is going on.  Whether or not today is the time to discuss it, I''ll leave to you.  What I won''t leave to you is your answer to the reason I came here today.


    "Seeing that all four of the children were so incredibly drained, it''s beyond obvious that the girls are also part of it.  Given that, what is Jason''s role in whatever it is?  While you''re at it, you can explain what ''whatever'' is and what your plans for dealing with it are."


    The others looked helplessly at each other.  No matter what they said there were likely to violate some sort of regulation, even though it might be one that was unwritten.


    While they were thinking, Akane broke in on their thoughts.  "My God this Lady Blue of yours was right.  You aren''t thinking at all are you?  Here you are, and, by the way, it''s incredibly obvious you''re trying to figure out what you can get away with telling me seeing as I''m not part of whatever it is.  The answer is simple.  Enroll me, or recruit me or whatever it is you do when you add someone to your organization."


    Her smile was decidedly predatory. "Then you can tell me everything."


    Blair and Miranda both swallowed, then responded with a rather subdued, "Yes ma''am."


    Akane was once again surprised.  Lady Blue was right.  Saying what you really felt could be extremely liberating.  Not only that, it was going to get her the information she needed in what was likely to be the absolute shortest time, just the way she liked it when she was doing research.


    She pointed to Blair.  "It''s your home so you may begin.  Start talking."


    ---------------------


    At first Eugenia blushed from head to toe.  Mrs. Fukui may have been right, but she wasn''t the one being undressed by a boy.  While he was three years younger than she was, he was still a nearly adult male. It didn''t take her long however to realize that he wasn''t reacting to her like so many other boys did.  Even when they were dressed she could often see their response to her.  That Jason wasn''t wearing anything at all made his lack of reaction obvious, not to mention that she could feel his unemotional concentration on the task at hand.


    He was doing exactly as his mother had instructed.  By the time it got to the point where he was washing her hair, she had relaxed completely.  Soon she realized that he was doing it better than anyone else ever had and began to enjoy the sensation.


    Afterwards he poured a couple of buckets of warm water over her head to rinse her off.  Then as she struggled to stand, he bent and picked her up in a "princess carry."  On the way to the bath his hand slipped, and he almost dropped her, but he recovered.  In recovering though his left hand had ended up on her left breast.


    She was preparing to at least make a token attempt to beat him up when she realized that even now he wasn''t reacting to her.   Moments later he''d put her down in the bath, carefully, then had walked back to the bathing area, where the twins were waiting, and started more hair washing.


    A few minutes later they were all sitting in the bath, Hibiki on Jason''s right, and Yoko on his left, with Genie across from them.  Jason had slid down in the water until his shoulders were covered, then gave a great sigh.  "Oh this feels wonderful."


    The twins nodded their agreement.  Eugenia noticed that, while they were holding his hands, they were sitting a good 20 centimeters away from him.  She couldn''t control her curiosity and asked, "Why do you lean against him in class, but this time you''re avoiding touching him.  I''d think that you''d want to be close to him, especially considering what we''ve just gone through."


    She felt the girl''s rapid discussion.  Even though so many things had happened, it had been less than two hours since they''d done their experiment, and she was still mostly at a loss when it came to mental communication.  It was exciting but also a bit frightening.  What if she thought something she didn''t want anyone else to know?


    She heard Yoko answering even though her lips weren''t moving, "Not ta worry.  Even we don''t ''read'' each other''s minds.  It takes energy ta talk this way, though not very much if you''re near each other.  The only way for what you''re worrying about ta happen is if you send to one of us when you don''t mean to, like you just did."


    Before Eugenia could ask Yoko answered, "Don''t worry.  It only took Jason a few days to learn how not to do it.  You shouldn''t have any problems.


    "As for your question.  It''s not that we don''t want ta be closer to him, it''s rather than we''d better not be, if you get my meaning."


    Eugenia''s mouth made an "O" as she understood.  At the same time she felt somewhat irritated, though she couldn''t quite put her finger on the reason.


    This time it was Jason who answered her.  "I''ll try to say it right.  Hibiki explained everything to me the other day, so I think I understand.  If I don''t I''m sure she''ll tell me."


    He smiled at Hibiki who grinned back then closed her eyes so she could get back to the important business of soaking.


    "When I almost dropped you and had to grab your breast to keep from dropping you, I could feel that you were angry, at least for a few seconds.  I still don''t understand why people get angry if you do something when you have no other choice, but we can talk about that some other time, right Yoko?"


    It was her turn to grin at him.  Afterwards he turned back to Genie.  "After that I could feel that you were relieved that I didn''t react the way other guys would have.  Just now when you learned that I would react that way if the twins were closer to me, you got irritated because I didn''t with you.


    "So I think it''s like what Yoko taught me about ''body image."  Any girl wants to be appreciated.  I guess it''s like if you''re looking at a pretty woman''s breasts.  It''s OK to look, if it''s for just a little bit, to show that you appreciate how she looks, but staring at them is a bad thing."


    Puzzlement spread across his face.  "That''s another thing I don''t really understand.  Mother taught me when I was little that it''s not polite to stare at people.  Don''t other boys'' mothers teach them the same thing?"


    He looked around a bit wildly when all three girls started giggling.  Then he sat up straighter and looked directly at Eugenia.  "Mother was right.  You are pretty.  I hadn''t really noticed before."


    Then he closed his eyes and slid back down into the water.  He didn''t see Eugenia''s blush, nor the tender smile that followed it, and only Genie heard the soft voice that said, "It''s a promise."


    After that there was no sound at all other than their breathing and the occasional dripping of water.

 Vol 2 - Ch 9

    Miranda finished with, "That''s where things stand right now."


    Akane facepalmed.  "I don''t believe it.  You were really planning to block off the stairways and bar all the windows.  No I take it back.  I do believe it.  I sincerely hope that you''re not so sloppy in your regular work."


    Seeing their affronted expressions, she motored right along, "Look, you''re trying to make things look as close to normal as you can.  How does arranging things so the residence staff have no access to the upper floors fit that picture?  They''re not going to be able to carry out their regular duties.  So, what will they do?


    "The answer is:  Stand around and gossip.  Specifically about how somebody blocked off the upper floor and told them not to try to go up there.  If I were an assassin skulking in the shadows, I''d be extremely curious as to why.  I''d probably make tracks the other direction as fast as I could and come after my target another time.


    "The same goes for the guards on the roof.  You need to make sure that it''s only the regular complement for when there''s a meeting of important people.  No more and no less.  If Jason can do what you''ve told me, his ''range'' is well beyond the furthest point on the grounds.  Having extra guards is going to be a liability not a benefit.


    "Not to mention that if this Avi person does decide to leave for now and come back later, there''s a chance, however small it might be, that he''ll learn about the children and what they can do.  By trying to protect them to that degree, you may be increasing their danger."


    She nodded at their dismay.  "Indeed.  One thing I''ve learned from reading military history is that the commanders who lost otherwise equal battles almost invariably tried to protect one unit or group of units at the expense of others.  You cannot properly execute your tactics if you tie one hand behind your back.


    "So, yes, there might be a somewhat increased immediate risk to the children, but their chances of survival in the long run are higher if we do it my way."


    She took a very deep breath, then smiled crookedly.  "I can barely believe I''m talking about using my son like this, but I also know that if assassins like this Avi person aren''t stopped, permanently, entire nations can collapse.  I don''t think I''d like it very much if my children''s lives ended because one of the northern kings successfully invaded and burned down The City."


    She glared at both of them.  "Don''t you ever judge someone based on superficial appearances ever again.  Yes, I know, sometimes you have to make snap judgements, that''s the way the world is.  BUT, in the long run, whomever makes their decisions based on a thorough assessment of all available information will be the one who walks away with the prize."


    She flopped down in her chair and flashed a small but genuine smile.  "In case you don''t realize it, I''ve just told you not to behave as I have for the past 20 years or so.  As the person in the room with the most experience at being a judgmental idiot, I think you should listen to me."


    Miranda and Blair stood as one, walked to Akane, and each took one of her hands.  They pulled her to her feet and gave her a big hug.


    Blair murmured, "Welcome to the world of information gathering, or if you prefer ''espionage''.  You''re going to fit right in.  As always, darn it, Lady Blue was right.  We do need you.


    "As your ostensible superior, my next order is one that you''re not likely to object to.  We''ll be heading to the bath to see how our children are doing."


    On the way Blair intercepted one of the maids and instructed her to have a light meal prepared for seven, to be served at the great table in the kitchen.


    When they reached the bathing room, Blair put her ear to the door.  "Just in case."


    She grinned at the others.  "I don''t hear a thing.  Let''s sneak in and see what they''re up to."


    Miranda drawled, "Blair, peeping at people in the bath isn''t really very nice."


    "You''re right Manda, but we''re going to do it anyway."


    Miranda pondered for about four seconds then said, "Sounds good to me.  How about you Akane?"


    Akane nodded. Her mischievous grin was a match for Blair''s.


    She intoned sententiously, "It''s a parent''s responsibility to make sure that their children bathe properly and don''t miss any dirty areas.


    "Well...what are you waiting for?  Let''s get going!"


    What they saw was both reassuring and just a little bit of a letdown.  None of the children noticed them.  That was because they were all asleep.  Yoko had given in to temptation, or perhaps necessity, and had wrapped herself around Jason''s arm.  Eugenia had her head back with her mouth open and was snoring softly.  Hibiki had fallen to the side and was precariously close to slipping under the water.  Jason was still sitting upright, but his chin had dropped and was resting on his chest.


    Akane whispered, "Blair, those robes the maid brought in look heavy enough that I don''t think we''ll need to dry them off, except for their hair.  Let''s get them up, wrap them up, feed them, and then put them to bed, but in separate rooms.  Bathing is one thing, but sleeping together would be pushing it."


    She turned to the others. "What do you think?"


    Miranda nodded.  "Sounds about right to me.  How ''bout you Blair?"


    "Agreed.  Let''s do it that way."


    There were no problems, exactly.  First they got the twins up and robed, and then Jason.  Miranda then walked around the bath to Genie and touched her on the shoulder.  Eugenia sprang up and took a defensive posture.


    Blair applauded softly, Hibiki looked at her intently, analyzing her form, while Jason and Yoko just stared at her wondering what was going on.


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    Genie blinked a few times then looked around the room and finally down at herself.  Consciousness returned, but her reaction was much different from what the mothers had expected.  Instead of covering up, she struck a ridiculously exaggerated, seductive pose and said, in the most sensuous voice she could manage, "Jason dear, am I pretty enough to catch myself a good man?"


    Jason blinked a few times, then comprehension flooded in; at least he hoped so.  He was fairly sure what the right response was.  For once he wanted to try without asking the twins.  If he didn''t start thinking for himself, he''d eventually end up so dependent on them that he might as well be a robot waiting for proper programming in every social situation.


    What he did was make a "turn around" gesture with his hand.  Eugenia complied, twirling on her toes.  Then he brought his hand to his chin, which he then rested in a "thinking" position.  "Well, yes, you probably are.  Before you go hunting though, there''s something else you need."


    He paused for about three seconds then delivered the punch line, "We''re going to need the twins to help you do something about your rotten personality."


    All four children doubled over laughing, while the mothers exchanged puzzled glances.  They didn''t know exactly what had happened, but they all realized that, whatever it was, it was likely a "good thing."  Rather than asking questions, they bundled Genie in a robe, then dried everyone''s hair, after which Blair led them out into the hall.


    Then, as planned, the kids were fed and put to bed.


    -----------------------------------


    The rest of the afternoon was quietly busy, with Blair, Hiroshi, Miranda, and Akane polishing up the details of their plan.  Hiroshi was taken aback when he saw Akane with the others when he entered the room, but, after Blair explained what had happened, his only response was, "Welcome to The Insomniac''s Club," after which he sprawled on his favorite chair.


    After they wrapped things up, Hiroshi ambled out again, on his way to meet "a few customers" before the bank closed.  One of them would be Captain Murray.  In addition to heading up Duchess Henrietta''s personal guard, he was well known as an extremely talented card player, which officially explained him having enough money to have an account at Hiroshi''s bank...that, and the fact that he was the Duchess'' husband.


    Miranda and Blair made their usual Friday afternoon rounds, in the process handing out instructions to a number of their agents.


    When they awoke, the children were fed again then instructed to get their school uniforms.  Once they had changed, they all met at Eugenia''s home after which Sven escorted them to The Residence and in through the servant''s entrance on the east side of the building.  Once inside he gave them a "tour," explaining to the few who happened to ask that they had earned the tour by writing essays on The Wonders of The City.


    The twins were left behind in a room on the second floor, where they changed into page''s outfits and bundled their waist-length hair under caps to disguise their gender.  Jason dropped out when they reached his station on the third floor, while Eugenia accompanied Sven back downstairs to a small room off of the main hall, where she was to wait till just after the banquet began that evening at 7:30.


    Her station would be about halfway down the hall,  next to a tall potted plant.  She was to crouch down on the side of the plant that was away from the entrance.  Hiroshi would be seated directly in front of her.  She would of course be employing her "no see, no hear" talent.


    ---------------------------


    "All right.  All right.  I see at least a double hand of you fidgeting.  My guess is that you probably all have the same question, or at least similar ones."


    Professor Ptica pointed at a student at random.  "Very well, go ahead and ask."


    "Thank you Professor.  The thing is.  Well, this Avi, the assassin.  Why would they, meaning the spymasters, be making all these plans to catch him at that particular time?  Even if his target had been in the Ducal Residence most of the day, couldn''t he have just slipped in, done the deed, and then escaped?"


    The Professor raised her head.  "Is that pretty much what you all had in mind?"


    Seeing various gestures of assent she proceeded, "One thing you need to consider is this: Assassins tend to have extremely high opinions of themselves.  Some, though not all, not only want to do the job, but they want to rub the noses of those trying to stop them in the futility of trying to catch them.  It''s odd that one involved in such a secretive ''profession'' can be an exhibitionist, but there you are.


    "Avi was as well known for his flamboyance as he was for his excruciatingly unpleasant effectiveness.  Those trying to catch him were not only aware of this tendency, they were counting on it."


    She scanned the class.  "Now, if there are no more questions?"


    --------------------------


    Once everyone was in position, only the waiting remained.  It was easiest for the children as they had the other three to talk to.  It also gave Genie some needed practice.  While they did so, they were able to push aside at least some of their anxiety.


    It was harder for the adults.  Of the four of them, Akane was at home, Sebastian not being in an occupation involving trade outside The City and thus not invited.  She not only had to worry, but she had to worry some distance away from the scene and also had to conceal from the rest of the family why she was so much on edge.


    Blair hadn''t worked in the field for years, and Miranda had never served outside of The City.  Both were so tightly wound as to be almost ready to explode.  Fortunately their anxiety could easily be explained by their being commoners suddenly thrust into the company of a large number of prominent individuals and nobles.


    Hiroshi invoked the "professional face" he used when exposed to a thoroughly disagreeable but wealthy client and was thus able to affect an air of calm that completely masked his underlying tension.


    Robert was blissfully unaware of the proceedings.  Oh, yes, he knew the general outline of what Miranda did, but he thought she worked only in uncovering economic problems.  He had no idea about the rest of her work.  Consequently his thoughts were primarily pleasant and full of the potential opportunities for expanding the bank''s business that might appear over the following three days.


    The room hushed immediately when Duchess Henrietta made her appearance.  As always she kept her remarks brief and to the point.  Even for her she set a record.  All she said was: "Thank you for coming.  I hope and expect that getting together will be useful, educational, and profitable for all of us."


    She gave the signal to begin serving and sat down.   From there on she spoke alternately and equally to the King''s envoy to her left and to Baron Svensson, the envoy from the Kalmar Union, on her right.  Admiral Fernando S¨¢nchez de Tovar sat to the right of the baron, as he would be in charge of the baron''s return home should negotiations be successful.


    Since the primary reason for the existence of the Kalmar Union was to limit German expansion northward, and a new trade agreement with Italy would strengthen the Union, it had been deemed unlikely to be safe for the Baron to return home overland.  The possibility that he might have an "unfortunate accident" if he crossed the German kingdoms by land, was too high to chance.


    Because of this, those who knew of Avi''s presence in The City assumed that Baron Svensson was the most likely target.  The usual guards behind the duchess, as well as the one a third of the way down the hall on her right side, had been replaced by three of Hiroshi''s elite students.


    As always, conversation at the banquet was a bit uncomfortable in the beginning, what with most of the guests sitting next to or across from strangers.  Within twenty minutes most everyone had gauged the status and usefulness of their neighbors, and things had changed.  Conversation became either more relaxed, should said neighbor be deemed  not particularly useful, or more intense if the opposite held true.

 Vol 2 - Ch 10 Unexpected Target

    Like the others, the children had been chatting about this and that, mostly to calm their nerves when suddenly Jason shouted, "He''s here!  I think he''s going to come in through the main gate."


    On hearing this, Eugenia tugged gently on a thread that was attached to one of Hiroshi''s socks.  One of the reasons for his being seated by the potted plant was because the servants used it as a dividing line for their responsibilities and didn''t pass it in either direction.  This allowed the thread to remain both undetected and unbroken, as might have happened if a server caught it with their feet.


    Hiroshi responded by picking up his wine goblet, taking a sip, then placing it three centimeters further away from him than it had been previously.


    After just over a minute, Hibiki sent, "I see him.  Well, probably.  Someone who''s all blurry just came in through the door and is walking toward your side of the table Genie!"


    Eugenia again tugged on the thread, once -- pause -- twice -- pause -- once.  This indicated that Avi was in the hall, on the same side she was, and on the outside of the banquet table.


    In response Hiroshi again took a sip of wine then placed the goblet a bit to the left and closer to him that it had been when he picked it up.  Interesting.  He wasn''t after Baron Svensson after all.


    From that point Hibiki kept up a steady commentary, "He is still moving.  He is not being sneaky.  He is just walking like any one else.  Ugh!  I do not like the smile on his face.  It''s really mean looking.  Still moving.  He''s only about three meters away from you Genie."


    Eugenia gave one single additional tug on the thread, indicating that Avi was getting close, then jerked it and broke it.  Hiroshi responded by picking up his goblet and fidgeting with it.  He wouldn''t put it down unless Genie stepped forward and touched him on the shoulder to let him know that Avi had passed them.


    In the meantime, she reacheed down and pulled a long, single-edged knife out of her boot.  Nobody had told her to bring one, but nobody had forbidden it either.   Her only instructions, other than signaling Avi''s progress had been to be absolutely sure that she wasn''t seen.  Nobody knew whether or not a person using the "no see, no hear" skill could see someone else doing the same.  As it was, someone would have to be literally standing next to her to see her, even if she weren''t hiding, as each of the six potted plants along the walls of the hall were carefully selected, very bushy shrubs that ordinarly graced the Ducal garden.


    "GENIE!  He''s right behind my father and he''s pulling out a knife!"


    She didn''t even think or rise from her crouch.  She swung her knife as hard as she could at the height that ought to hamstring him even if he were a half meter to either side of where she thought he was.


    As she did so, she noticed absently that she couldn''t see him, at least not until the blood spurted out and he fell backwards toward her.  As soon as the pain registered in his brain, Avi''s "no see, no hear" spell had snapped out of existence.  Two seconds later there were two guards on top of him.


    --------------------


    Professor Ptica interrupted the video and spoke, this time with asperity, "Will you all BE QUIET!  It has long been established that a fit, healthy human male can turn around and sprint as much as six meters in 1.57 seconds.  So, no, the guards were not preternaturally fast.  In fact, they were a bit slow.


    "I''ve been rather lenient with you thus far.  No more!  I will NOT tolerate any further interruptions.  Have I made myself clear?"


    She paused and noticed that most of the students were cringing in their seats.  Good.  Now maybe she could proceed in peace and on time.  She was getting hungry and didn''t want to be late for lunch.


    -------------------------


    As one would expect. there was immediate turmoil among those seated nearby, while those further away were craning their necks to see what had just happened.  A guard corporal who had rushed forward did as he had been instructed.  He crouched and pretended to examine the now bound and gagged, would-be assassin.  Then he stood, turned toward the duchess, and announced, "Your Grace.  One of the servants dropped a glass and badly cut his foot when he stepped on it.  My men will assist him to the infirmary.  Please accept my apologies for the interruption."


    On the face of it, it was a very flimsy story, but since only a few people nearby could see anything, it was generally accepted.  On impulse Eugenia leaned forward and touched Avi''s arm, willing that his image be blurred but not totally obscured.  It worked!  Those nearby could see the guards helping someone to their feet, but for some reason they couldn''t tell what that person looked like or what he was wearing.


    No matter.  It was only a servant anyway.  They turned back to their conversations and within minutes had forgotten the incident.  The blood was washed away, but as that also involved servants, they paid it no mind.


    ------------------------


    "Well, now that we have him, what do we do with him?  It''s fairly certain that he isn''t going to tell us everything he knows if we promise to let him go.  He wouldn''t believe us.  Heck neither would I in his place.  Even if he talked he''d lie."


    Hiroshi was standing with his fingers laced behind his back and staring at the floor.  Blair and Miranda were sitting, uncharacteristically not speaking at all.  Akane was obviously thinking, hard, about something.   It''s rather difficult for a strategist to strategize if she doesn''t know what''s going on.  That was why she''d been summoned after Avi had been captured.  It wasn''t so much because they thought that they needed her, but because they wanted to get in the habit of including her in their deliberations.


    Akane exclaimed, "It couldn''t be that easy!  Could it?"


    Suddenly there were three sets of curious eyes on her.  Rather than answering their unvoiced question she said, "I, no, we need Jason.  Please summon him and also...hmmm...it would best to have all four of them here.  It will be faster that way."


    When it became obvious that she intended to say no more, Hiroshi shrugged, went to the door and spoke to the guard outside.


    Akane turned to Miranda.  "When they''re all here, I want you to tell them to line up.  Then say that we have some questions for them, and that''s why you sent for them."


    Manda raised a questioning eyebrow.


    Akane snorted.  "You''re overusing the eyebrow.  Eventually people are going to ignore you if you do it so often.  You need to mix it up with at least one other gesture.  As for your question, you''ll have your answer right after you say what I just told you.


    "Now, I want you to sit over there, close to the wall opposite the door.  I''ll sit in the corner and Hiroshi and Blair will stand against one of the walls.  It doesn''t matter which."


    She peered at them.  "Didn''t you hear me?"


    As they moved, Blair and Manda looked at each other briefly.  What had they unleashed?


    It wasn''t a long wait.  Jason and the twins had holed up in his room above the entrance to the residence.  Eugenia had been in the guard quarters.  She''d cleaned her knife and then had turned her attention to the blood on her pants.  She arrived a bit after the others with several damp spots on her trousers but otherwise looking normal.


    When Miranda spoke they did as instructed and lined up, but as soon as she''d finished speaking Jason said, "No you didn''t."  As the same time the twins expressions turned dubious.  Eugenia merely looked curious.


    Akane raised her hand.  "Jason, please don''t say anything at all for a moment if you please."


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    Turning to the twins she said,  "Yoko and Hibiki please hold hands."


    Once they had done so she said, "Jason was correct.  Miranda didn''t send for you, your mother did."


    In perfect unison they blurted out, "No she didn''t!"


    Akane rubbed her hands together like a crooked merchant about to put one over on a naive customer.  Eugenia was definitely confused, though she still said nothing.


    "Very good girls, you, and Jason, were correct.  I''m the one who asked for you to be brought here."  None of them said anything.


    Akane smiled.  "Eugenia go over to Jason and take his hand."  She turned to the twins. "Quit scowling.  You know better now."  They had the grace to look ashamed of themselves and settled down.


    Next Akane said, "Eugenia, you''re the perfect match for Jason."


    Genie flushed with embarrassment, then surprise colored her expression, "You''re lying.  I can feel it!"


    "Very good. Now go hold hands with the twins, both of them to begin with."


    Once they had complied Akane said, "You''d look better if you bleached your hair blonde so it matches mine."


    All three of them said, "You''re lying again."


    Eventually they had it all sorted out.  Jason could always detect lies and feel emotions if he were attentive to the speaker, even if he couldn''t see them.  The twins could tell whether or not the speaker was lying, and their emotional state, if they held hands.  Separately they were about 70% accurate on the lies but couldn''t tell how the person was feeling.  Eugenia was no better than random chance by herself, but if she were touching either of the twins they were right 90% of the time, and she was never wrong if she was touching both of them even if she was looking away from the person lying.


    When they were done testing the children, Hiroshi said, "I understand.  Now we need Avi in a room with another room off to either side.  We put Jason in one, the twins in the other, sit Avi at the back of the center room and feed him leading questions. Even if he doesn''t answer, their ability to feel emotions should help us narrow things down."


    He turned to Eugenia.  "I''ll have two guards in the room.  One will stand on either side of him with a hand on his shoulder, ostensibly to keep him from trying to stand, only one of the hands will be yours.   Body language can tell you a lot, even if you can''t sense what he''s feeling.  If we get close to something sensitive, his shoulders are likely to tense up somewhat.  If you feel that, tell the others and they can let us know by waving from one of the other rooms.  Use your ''no see, no hear'' skill.  Agh, that''s too long.  From now on I''m going to call it ''stealth'', assuming you don''t object?"


    She shook her head "no," and he added, "Right that''s settled.  Let''s get to this.  He''s likely to be less cautious due to pain from his injury and from the stress of being caught in the first place."


    He tipped his head back in thought.  "Actually it may be worse than that.  That it took us less than 10 seconds probably has him nearly in shock."


    It took longer to find rooms that fit their requirements than anything else, but, once they had, things moved along like clockwork.


    Avi twitched in surprise when he saw who was in charge of the interrogation.  At the last minute Hiroshi had decided that the ladies shouldn''t be in the room.  Avi didn''t know them and Hiroshi didn''t want to take any chances that their presence might push him into thinking more clearly.


    They had agreed, albeit reluctantly.  Consequently Akane was with Jason in one room, and the others were with the twins.  Any questions they had could be passed to Hiroshi by a note carried by one of the Guard, along with reports from the children as to his emotional state and veracity -- should he speak at all.


    Akane came up with the idea that Hiroshi should act almost indifferent toward Avi.  He''d receive the notes then pretend to write responses and send them back out.  That would make it look like he considered Avi nothing more than a minor inconvenience, which was sure to infuriate someone with his need for attention.


    It went much better than they had even hoped.  By the time they were through, Hiroshi was finding it very hard to contain his glee and relief.  The glee was because their plan for the interrogation had worked so well.  Relief because he was absolutely certain that he had been targeted, not because his cover had been blown and he''d been identified as the King''s spymaster, but rather because of his position in the bank.


    Someone in the German intelligence service, apparently Avi didn''t know his or her name as he never responded when possible candidates were mentioned, had noticed how The Bank of The Griffon was expanding throughout Italy and even into other countries.  This person had decided that having inside knowledge of international banking activities would be extremely useful.  They had plans to infiltrate spies into as many of the new branches as possible, but they''d wanted someone in a central position to coordinate things.  Who better than someone like Hiroshi who was an actual partner.  He was prominent enough to be useful but not so important that the bank would falter if he were to suddenly die and need to be replaced.


    Of course his replacement would be a senior German agent.  They, whoever "they" were, had apparently been confident of being able to manage it.  Eugenia had by then been taught every single telltale of body language and Hiroshi''s relief was absolutely clear in spite of his efforts to conceal it.  Avi definitely noticed it too because his whole body suddenly tensed.


    "Jason, what''s he thinking?!"


    "I''m not entirely sure Genie, but he''s furious.  It''s like he''s so angry that he doesn''t care about himself any more.  He wants to kill someone so much it''s making me sick.  Oh my God, the twins have just fainted!  Your mother and Mrs. Macklin are taking care of them."


    "Thank you Jason.  Now I need you to do one more thing, right away.  Have your mother write Mr. Macklin a note asking if he''s finished asking questions.  I don''t mean just for now, I mean ever.  I need to know if he can even conceive of anything else he might need to ask Avi.  I need him to nod if he does need more information and shake his head if he doesn''t.  It''s very important.  And you''d better make it fast."


    "Why do you need...  Sorry Genie, I''ll get right on it."


    Hiroshi could see Akane suddenly start writing furiously, so he killed time by pretending to write something himself.


    The note was delivered and, though he looked puzzled, he shook his head.


    Genie used her free hand to pull out a long poignard and shoved it into Avi''s heart through his back, unknowingly mimicing Raven''s stabbing of the bandit leader Luciano hundreds of years earlier.  Avi fell forward, soundlessly, onto the floor.  Hiroshi sprang to his feet.  "What did you do?  No, cancel that, WHY did you do it?"


    Eugenia looked down at Avi dispassionately then began to tick things off on her fingers.  Funny how one could pick up habits from other people.


    "1) There was nothing else you were going to get from him.  You said so yourself.


    "2) You couldn''t let him go.  You couldn''t put him on trial; you''d be laughed out of court and they''d have to set him free.  He never did ANYTHING that you could prove without putting a ''kill me now'' target on all four of us if we show everyone what we can do, and that would be a serious tactical blunder.  All you could do was quietly lock him up somewhere or kill him.


    "3) If you did lock him up, eventually he''d escape.  Then you, and we, would be in a world of hurt when he reported back to the Germans because he now knew that you''re much more than an ordinary banker.


    "4) He''d been working at his shackles with some sort of makeshift lockpick the entire time he was sitting here.


    "5) He was so enraged that as soon as he had the shackles unlocked he planned to kill you anyway, even if the guards killed him immediately afterwards.


    "6) The ONLY way to protect everyone, now and later was to execute him immediately.


    "7)  There is no seven.  That''s all.  I''m finished."


    Hiroshi wanted to yell at her, but he choked it down.  He was thoroughly capable of analysis, even in the most stressful situations, and he had to grant her every single point she''d made.  The problem was, he didn''t know what to say to her.  She was a 16 year old girl and she''d just killed someone without showing even the slightest hesitation or emotion.


    Fortunately Akane was certain that she did know what to do.  She was wrong, but a bit of slack is appropriate as she was new to the world of espionage.  She walked into the room and looked down at Avi''s body with exaggerated distaste.  "What a thoroughly unpleasant ending to a most interesting day."


    Next she looked at Eugenia coldly.  "Tell me child.  Are you planning to murder everyone you decide needs killing from now on?"


    Surprise, shock and, finally, terror crossed Eugenia''s face.  She collapsed onto the floor and began bawling like a newborn baby.    Miranda swept past Akane.  She knelt beside her daughter and enfolded her in her arms.  Unlike Eugenia, she was able to keep her own terror from showing.  She wasn''t afraid because of what her daughter had done.  Far from it.  Agents had to make decisions like that now and then, and Eugenia''s decision had been entirely correct.


    No, what terrified Miranda was the realization that her daughter was eventually going to be one of those field agents with absolute discretion to complete their missions as they saw fit.  Only about half of them ever lived long enough to retire, because they were the ones who were given the most dangerous jobs.


    For now though, she had other things to do.  She gathered Genie in her arms, then carried her weeping child home, ignoring the inquisitive glances of the few people who were still out at that time of night.  Even patrolling militia who didn''t know her were disinclined to accost this tall, dark-skinned, silver-haired woman with a face like flint.


    On the way she reviewed the most paramount needs.  She''d have to tell Robert that she''d be sleeping with Genie that night, and probably for quite a few more in the future.  Later, Robert would have to be informed of everything they''d learned about the banks and what it was his friends really did.  With the bank in danger, there was no way that they could conceal their true roles any longer.  The security of the entire nation might depend on it.


    She stalked through the streets like an avenging valkyrie, determined that nobody and nothing would threaten her family again if she had any say in the matter.  It wouldn''t be apparent for a number of years, but that determination would play a significant role in changes that would affect not only The City of The Bells, but all of Italy and, later, the rest of the worlds as well.

 Vol 2 - Ch 11 Resolution

    Fortunately the twins, having fainted, were unaware of the messy conclusion of the affair.  Immediately afterwards Jason had rushed to their room, followed more sedately by Akane who, after Miranda left with Eugenia, secured the connecting door behind her.  By then Blair had arranged the twins on their backs on the floor, and Jason was between them holding their hands and looking anxious.


    Akane knelt down in front of Jason.  "Jason dear, there''s something I need you to help me with, please?"


    "I don''t have to leave them alone, do I Mother?"


    "No dear, you can stay right where you are.  I just need you to answer a few questions, all right?"


    "Sure. OK.  As long as I can stay here till they wake up.  They''ll get better faster if I do.  I can feel it."


    Blair and Akane exchanged a meaningful glance then snickered slightly.  If they kept doing that they were going to look like the cliched protagonists in a cheesy light novel.  Then again so much had happened in the past day that it had probably been warranted.


    Akane found herself a chair.  "Do you have an idea why the girls fainted?"


    "Oh. That.  Of course I do."


    Akane smiled at him with a touch of exasperation.  "Jason.  A question like that needs details, not just confirmation or denial."


    He wanted to bonk himself on the head but he was loath to let go of either girl''s hand.  He''d try hard to remember what his mother had just said.  "Yes Mother.  Genie just learned today how to speak to us in our minds.  She''s having trouble not sending her emotions over the link.  I did too for a while at the beginning.  Right there at the end I could feel it, and I know that Yoko and Hibiki could too."


    Akane looked at him expectantly.


    "Oh yes, details.  Sorry.  Anyway she was feeling angry, and scared.  She was also, I''m not completely sure what the right word is,  but maybe ''determined''?   Maybe sorta like if you saw a kitten had fallen into a fountain and you knew it couldn''t get out and would drown if you didn''t help it?  And you hated cats ''cause you had an awful allergy, but there wasn''t anyone else around to save it so you had to do it anyway ''cause you didn''t want to have bad dreams about it if you didn''t."


    He shook his head, and thought about his example for a bit.  "No, that''s not quite right.  It was more like she knew it was the right thing to do if she wanted to protect the people she loved, and if she didn''t then a lot of people were going to be hurt.  She hated doing it, like I said, but she knew it had to be her because there wasn''t any time.


    "It felt awful.  I can see why the girls fainted.  I guess I didn''t because I think I understand how she thinks better than they do, so it didn''t hurt me as much.  It''s probably cause I''ve always had to do things I didn''t want to, and didn''t understand all that well, but I knew that it was the right thing  -- at least after someone explained it to me."


    He smiled down at the twins, who were beginning to stir.  "That''s part of why I love them so much I guess.  When they make me do something, it doesn''t hurt nearly so bad, because I can feel that they do it because they love me and want to help me."


    There were tears in his eyes.  "I didn''t understand that kind of love before you know.  I do understand what it''s like to love someone in your family, even Kaho when she''s not very nice to me.  It used to make me mad, but then I saw other people''s older brothers and sisters treating them the same way, and I eventually realized that they''re like that cause it''s embarrassing for them to say they love you.


    "Now I also know what it''s like to love someone who isn''t family.  At first I wanted to be with them because they helped me understand things, but that was all.  I maybe even liked them a little bit.  It''s different now.  I can''t imagine living without them, and I think that if we''re separated far enough that I can''t feel them, I''ll get sick."


    He put on his clinical, analytical face.  "As a matter of fact, if it were for very long, I might even die."


    This time, even though Akane had chided Miranda about the exact same thing, her eyebrow rose toward the ceiling.  Unknowingly Jason might just have hit upon the reason why twins born in The City would die if they were separated by too great a distance or for a long time.  They''d lose their emotional support and wouldn''t be able to find a reason to continue to live.  She''d have to investigate further, and consult with certain people, but she was positive that Jason had hit that nail squarely on the head.


    When she published the results of her research it was going to....  Wait a minute.  She couldn''t publish it.  If she did it would be handing their enemies an exact "how to" recipe for torturing any twin that they wanted to extract information from, and there were a lot of them serving in sensitive positions.


    No matter. She was going to write it up anyway.  A few, select people would need to know, if only to protect themselves from security breaches resulting from a twin trying to save the life of their counterpart who had been captured or kidnapped.


    Not for the first time she wished that she lived in a world where important new advances could be safely disseminated to anyone who could make use of them.  However she didn''t live in such a world.  Until the dream of worldwide peace came to fruition, there would always have to be secrets, and that was that.


    "You''re making progress little one."


    She looked around the room to see where the oddly familiar voice had come from.  She saw no one.  Maybe she was imagining it.  She knew that she had an overactive imagination and almost convinced herself that that''s what it was.


    Her reverie was interrupted by Blair.  "Let''s get them home, soaked, and into bed."


    She turned to Jason.  "I think I''ll need your help with them again.  They''re too weak to manage it by themselves.  Hmmm."


    She turned her head toward Akane and added,  "Akane, will you help this time while I get things set up in their room?  Since Genie won''t be there it might be a good idea."


    Akane nodded her understanding.  The three of them were entering prime hormone territory and, especially because of what Jason had just said about the twins, the likelihood of them being safe alone in the bath would be vanishingly small.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    --------------------


    When her eyes first opened, Eugenia found herself looking at nothing in particular, just the familiar interplay of light and shadow from the sun reflected off the floor tiles onto the ceiling of her room.  The second thing she noticed was that something definitely didn''t smell very good.  Lifting her sleeve to her face she sniffed.  Unfortunately her first guess was right.  What smelled was her.


    Wait a minute?  Sleeve?  She always slept in a sleeveless shirt this time of year.  What was going on?  That was when it hit her.  What she was seeing on the ceiling was familiar, yes, but it was something you only saw in the middle of the day.  Why was she still in bed?


    She sat bolt upright as her memory caught up with her.  Oh...  Briefly she considered vomiting but decided that the protracted episode the day before had been more than enough for the rest of her life, so that was out of the question.  She fought down the queasiness, threw back the covers, and swung herself into a sitting position on the side of the bed.


    OK.  Not dizzy.  Disgusted, sickened, ashamed, and humiliated, yes, but not dizzy.  As she cautiously probed her feelings, she realized that "determined" and "assured" were somewhere in the mix as well.  She was still a bit too muzzy to try to sort everything out, so she stood and began a kata she''d learned from Master Hiroshi that would help her loosen up both her mind and body.


    As she was about to finish, there was a confident knock on her door.  She continued the kata but said, "Enter."


    The family''s senior maid Mimi McPhee entered.  "Madame wanted the bath ready when you awakened.  All is in readiness Miss."


    Genie wrapped up her kata then headed for the door.  "Thanks Mimi, I appreciate it."


    Mimi bobbed her head then whisked herself away.  She had a number of other tasks to complete and wanted to finish them in time to take a break before sunset.


    When Genie reached the bathing room she stripped off her clothes and threw them in the hamper reserved for donations to the poor.  She was certain that she wouldn''t want to wear them, or even see them, ever again.  It was already likely that she was going to have nightmares about the previous night.  She didn''t need something in her wardrobe to remind her of it.


    A few minutes after she had lowered herself into the soaking tub, she was surprised by her mother entering the room.


    Uncharacteristically she also removed her clothes, washed, then joined Genie.


    Miranda stretched and sighed.  "This feels marvelous.  I really should make time to relax like this more often.  Did you know that in most parts of the world families never bathe together?  I talked to Akane about it the other day, and she said that it seems to be directly related to whether or not there are natural hot springs.  Where there are, like here and in Japan, it''s quite common.


    "I suspect that, in other areas that get very cold, houses are smaller so as to make heating them easier in winter, and there isn''t room for a large bath.  I imagine that there likely isn''t enough fuel available for heating the water either.  In the tropics people probably just bathe in the nearest stream or river, or maybe in the ocean.  I''m not sure about that but it seems reasonable, don''t you think?"


    With that last, Miranda turned to Genie with a question in her gaze that had nothing to do with what she''d been saying.


    "I''m OK mother.  At least I think I will be.  What Mrs. Fukui said felt like it would if you were on the ground and a friend offered you a hand up, then kicked  your legs out from under you when you were almost standing.  I know she meant well.  Heck, now that my head is working again, I''m positive I know why she did it.  I just don''t think that she needed to say anything at all.  I''d already thought about all of that before I killed him."


    When she finished, she looked directly at her mother and held her gaze.  What she''d said had been in a calm and measured tone, but her eyes showed a hint of uncertainty and question of her own.  She was only 16 years old and in desperate need of reassurance from an adult that she trusted.


    Miranda quickly revised what she''d planned to say.  While this kind of response had occupied the back of her mind as a possibility, she''d been better prepared for hysterics.  She snorted inwardly.  Just goes to show you that no matter how well you know them, you can''t always predict what even those closest to you will do.  She made a mental note to remember that the next time she needed to figure out what someone she was investigating, and therefore didn''t know nearly as well, was likely to do.


    "Genie dear, this is difficult, for me as well as for you.  I''m your superior in the intelligence community, but also your mother.  As the former I''m responsible for training you and honing your skills -- and judgement.  As the latter, I want to protect you and keep you from ever again being in a situation like last night where you have to make a life or death decision.


    "I guess every good parent wants to protect their children as long as possible.  The hard part is figuring out when to stop protecting and when to start supporting your child as they begin making decisions for themselves.  Right now both my jobs are telling me that you''re right on the border between the two, which makes things even more difficult.


    "Does that make sense?"


    Genie nodded, with some evident relief.  "So what do we do now?"


    Miranda''s eyes lost focus as she thought, so she didn''t notice the change in Genie''s expression as she said, "The first thing I do is talk to Akane.  She''s newer to this than any of us.  Last night proved that Lady Blue was right when she said that Akane should be our strategist, but Akane''s tactical skills are woefully lacking.  But then, that''s why Blair and I are there, right?"


    She looked back at Eugenia and saw astonishment and disbelief.  "What did you just say?  Mrs. Fukui is a strategist?  Since when?  I thought she was just some stuck-up biddy who was there last night because of Jason.  And who in blue blazes is ''Lady Blue''?"


    Miranda facepalmed.  She''d been so worried about Genie that she''d blurted out things that were, at best, premature.  Now what was she going to do?   Hearing peals of high pitched laughter in her mind didn''t help the situation either.  Sometimes that one was much more childish than her children.  Seeing an image of Lady Blue sticking out her tongue and then rolling on the floor while she continued laughing confirmed her assessment.


    "OK. We''ll do this.  We''ll discuss them separately, starting with Mrs. Fukui.  I don''t EVER want to hear you speak so disrespectfully of an elder again, do you understand me Eugenia Catarina?"


    Uh-oh.  Miranda never spoke to Genie like that unless she was in deep doo-doo.  She leapt to her feet, bowed, and stammered, "Yes Ma''am.  No Ma''am.  I won''t Mother. Not ever!"


    Miranda gestured for Eugenia to sit again.  "Not that I disagree with you, she was a stuck-up biddy.  However, she isn''t any more.  She''s now working with Hiroshi, Blair, and I as our strategist.  You don''t have a need to know why or how it happened.  You just have to accept that what is, is.  Am I understood."


    Genie responded with a subdued, "Yes Ma''am."


    Miranda laced her fingers before her and stretched.  "Now, as for Lady Blue.  She''s more need-to-know than all the rest of our work combined, and you do not as yet need to know.  You''re not to bring her up unless one of your superiors chooses to tell you about her."


    She continued in a soft but penetrating voice, "And I don''t want to ever hear of you asking anyone questions about her.  If I do, you''re going to be spending the rest of your life in a cloister where they have a vow of silence.  Capice?"


    Eugenia''s eyes went wide.  Her mother was totally serious.   She nodded frantic compliance.


    "Yoroshi.  Gods but I love that word.  We don''t have anything in Italian that compresses so much meaning into a single word and sounds so good when you say it.  Just one more useful thing we''ve learned from the Japanese."


    She looked over Eugenia apraisingly.  "You still don''t look all that good.  Get your shoulder under water, count to 100, slowly, then get yourself dressed and get something to eat.  After that it''s nap time again."


    Miranda followed her own advice and silence descended.  There was a great deal of work yet to do.  There always was, but there wasn''t anything that absolutely needed attending to at that particular moment.  The world could be allowed to intrude again tomorrow or, even better, the following day.  Lord alone knew when they''d next have the opportunity.  Today''s only task would be to rest and catch up on sleep while Robert bamboozled, er...negotiated with the others at the Baron''s birthday party.

 Vol 2 Ch 12

    On Monday morning, all four children were still somewhat wobbly, so their mothers made excuses to their schools and kept them home, after which the adults met for the first time at Akane''s place.  She''d wanted the others to become familiar with the layout of her home, just in case.  Just in case of what wasn''t something she could articulate at the time, but it seemed prudent anyway.  Besides that Akane wanted the others to explain to her how they investigated the background of a new hire, something that had now become necessary since they learned of the German plan to infiltrate the banking system.


    "Right then, I think I understand the gist of it.  Obviously there''s no way to do one of these ''background checks'' on every employee of every branch.  We''re going to have to focus on officers, and those who have access to funds transfer information, and we probably ought to convince your husbands that copies of at least the basic details of all large loans should be sent here."


    Deducing the others'' unasked questions, she elaborated, "We know that the Germans are planning to infiltrate the bank.  We can also be sure that, no matter how ''trusted'' Avi was, there''s no way that whomever hired him would have told him everything, or even most of their plan.  All he needed to know what who the target was and some general background.


    "Surely, knowing when large sums of money are being transferred and to whom could be useful to the Germans, but knowing who has recently borrowed a large sum could be even more useful.  To us as well as to them."


    Miranda nodded.  "I see.  That way we''d know who is overextended and might be vulnerable to bribery...or blackmail.  It wouldn''t be impossible for the Germans to arrange for ''accidents'' that would make those customers even easier targets."


    Blair sighed.  "You both realize that once we''ve honed our techniques as much as we can with our husbands'' banks, we''re going to have to look into all the other large Italian banks doing business in other countries?  I have absolutely no idea where we''re going to find enough people to do that for us.  I''m short of people as it is, and I know that Miranda is too."


    A disembodied voice broke in on their conversation, "One of the things I''ve learned at school, and I believe it was in one of your classes Mrs. Fukui, is that generals who tried to oversee every little detail didn''t last very long."  There was a short pause.  "That''s probably because they tended to either get killed in battle or eliminated, one way or the other, by their rulers."


    Miranda rolled her eyes then turned in Eugenia''s general direction.  "Genie, first of all, you should still be at home resting.  Secondly, I believe that I told you to stop sneaking around like this and eavesdropping on us.  Several times, correct?"


    Eugenia allowed herself to be seen, so her mother could see her bowing in her direction.  "You did indeed say that Mother, several times, and, if your recollection is as clear as mine, quite painfully -- at least from where I stand.  Speaking of which, may I sit down?  I''m still a bit shaky from all that unpleasantness over the weekend."


    Akane waved her to a chair.  She had certain suspicions about why Eugenia had revealed herself, and she didn''t want to miss the show.


    "Thank you Mrs. Fukui."


    She turned to her mother.  "I believe you were going to yell at me again?"


    Miranda looked at her with narrowed eyes.  She too had realized that Genie had something planned.  "No, at least not immediately.  Get on with it.  We still have a lot to do today, and we hadn''t allotted time for dealing with invisible people."


    "Darn. You''re no fun.  Or that''s what I might say if I were watching us, which I''m not.  So I''ll just answer all of your questions, including the ones you haven''t asked yet.


    "First of all, insofar as we know, I''m the only person still alive who can do what I do.  After what we saw Friday though, it''s plain as day that we can''t count on it.  Which means that you''re going to have to come up with a way to make sure that people like me aren''t listening when you have important meetings.  There''s not going to be any better way for you to do that than to have me, possibly, in the room when you check those procedures out.  Sometimes I should be there, and sometimes I shouldn''t.


    "Secondly I don''t need to be just good at this, I need to be perfect.  If I make some tiny mistake that you spot, all you''re going to do is yell at me.  Someone else might make me dead, which is why I''m going to keep ignoring what you told me about not eavesdropping.  "Not to mention that I can''t memorize entire conversations.  I''m going to have to be able to write up a good synopsis though.  How better than for me to practice with what you''ve said at one of your meetings?  Then all of you can review it and show me where I''ve missed something, or if I''ve put in details that you don''t need to know."


    She tipped her head to the side, thinking.  "That''s enough about me, at least for right now.  Let''s get to what you were just talking about.  Please don''t take it the wrong way, but you''re overthinking it.  You''ve identified the problem.  The next step is to raise the question with the people with expertise in the field.  You don''t need new agents, or even to use the ones you have already.


    She cocked her head to the other side.  "I could be mistaken, but I don''t believe that there''s any bank anywhere that wants to lose money.  When father goes to the next meeting of the bank owners in Naples, he can casually mention that they''d caught an employee who''d been placed there by some unknown party who wanted to damage the bank''s finances and reputation.  Said person was sending confidential information on loans and money transfers to said unknown party.  After that, any smart banker will come up with new policies to at least limit the possibility of it happening to them.  The only thing worse for a banker than losing money is having clients spread the word that they''re indiscreet.


    "What such policies might be, I don''t know.  And, please forgive me, you don''t either.  Let the experts deal with what they know best.  You do what you do best, which is, well, whatever it is you do.  I suspect that what I''ve learned is still only the tip of the iceberg."


    Her eyes lost focus briefly.  "Yeah.  That''s everything.  I''m done."


    Miranda looked at her, in some ways for the first time.  The first thought that struck her was that she was indeed somewhat like Jason.  She was only passingly acquainted with the word "tact."  However that was fine insofar as today was concerned.  Her second thought was more of a feeling.  She was very proud of her willful daughter.


    Thirdly she noticed that Blair and Akane were waiting.  She was Eugenia''s mother, so she got first crack at her.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.    She leveled a finger at Eugenia, took a deep breath and intoned, "You will NOT..."


    At that point Eugenia flinched, but she didn''t avert her gaze.


    "You will not EVER skip class or neglect your homework (or your other studies) just because you''re practicing this ''stealth''."


    She nodded to Blair.  "I think Hiroshi came up with a very good word for it."


    She returned her attention to Eugenia.  "Also, I think it''s high time that I told you how very proud of you I am."  She flowed across the room and hugged her daughter tightly.


    "Now, it''s shaping up to be a lovely day today, and you truly aren''t up to being in class, so what I want you to do is...."


    She paused, accurately assessing that Eugenia was looking forward to a relaxing rest of the day off to do as she pleased.


    "As you suggested, you will busy yourself with pen and paper and write up a report for us on today''s meeting.  After that the three of us will review it and let you know, in minute detail, where you''ve made mistakes, which information is unnecessary, and what you''ve missed.  After that you will write it up again, as many times as it takes until we''re satisfied."


    The grin she directed at her daughter was decidedly malicious.  "You''re going to be a very busy girl for most of the rest of the day."


    She stretched dramatically and yawned.  "Blair, Akane, it''s a lovely morning.  Why don''t we drop over to the Blue Mermaid and have our mid-morning tea.  I understand that they have a new pastry chef who''s quite good.  We can sample her offerings while we''re there, so Akane can compare them to her family''s products.  It never hurts to know what the competition is up to.  When we get back, Eugenia should have her first draft completed."


    She smiled sweetly at her daughter.  "She''d better."


    Blair and Akane didn''t say a word, but collected their things and headed for the door, right after Akane handed a pen, ink, and a stack of paper to Genie.  Only after they were outside and heading down the street did Eugenia hear the faint echoes of the laughter they''d kept in check until then.


    As she began writing, she realized that her mother was right.  Some Japanese words worked better than those in other languages.  When she thought of her mother, "oni" flowed from the tongue better than "demon."


    -------------------------------


    After being together for coming on to a year and a half, the other children had long since stopped making plans about when and where to meet on their days off.  Through some sort of biological GPS they would always find each other.  It was that which prompted their experiments that morning.


    The first thing that they decided to do was see how far away from each other they could be before they began to feel any degree of distress.  As with most things in life, it was not as far as they''d hoped, but not nearly as close as they''d feared.  Much as they loved each other, the idea of being on a short leash the rest of their lives was a bit galling, especially to teens who were feeling a perfectly natural urge to become independent.


    Over the course of several hours they found that the very first signs of discomfort appeared at about a one kilometer separation.  At one and a half klicks they could still function, but they were noticeably more distractable than usual.  Two kilometers was the absolute limit.  Anything beyond that would leave them confused and somewhat disoriented.


    Oddly enough, were any two of them touching, the distance away the third could be and still function normally was a surprising three kilometers.  Likewise speaking "twin" was also less tiring for all three in the same situation.  They decided that was enough experimentation for one day, so they agreed to meet for a late lunch at an inn on the Outer Ring Road that was favored by the girls'' parents, the Mule''s Tale.  After meeting outside, they entered the main dining area.


    The inn had been remodeled two years earlier after the owner Alicia Strongbow had married Master Merchant Aldus Ringvold.   The original combined dining/drinking area had been converted into a dining area that catered to families, while a new, and much larger taproom, for those mostly interested in the excellent ales and wines the inn stocked, had been built on the other side of the kitchen.  The two were connected by a wide corridor lined with wooden pegs at multiple heights that served as a cloakroom as well as a passageway.


    Alicia was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, giving instructions to the staff about dinner preparations.  She turned as she heard the door close and was met by Yoko''s cheery, "Hiya Mrs. Ringvold.  Do ya think we could get some sandwiches and cider?  We missed lunch, and we''re very hungry."


    "Of course you can Yoko.  Take whatever table you want.  It''s not like we''re expecting a crowd this time of day."


    After Alicia had relayed their order to the kitchen, she came over to the table, drying her hands on a bar towel as she approached.  She had a big smile on her face as she teasingly asked, "Now tell me, who have we here, your boyfriend?"


    Seeing as all three of them were sitting on the same side of the table, with their shoulders touching, she really didn''t have to ask, but like Hibiki she had a mischievous sense of humor and wanted to see how they''d react.


    She was taken aback when both girls lifted suddenly serious faces and said in unison, "Yes, that''s right.  We''ll be getting married as soon as Jason turns 16."


    Well now!  That was VERY interesting, especially when the boy''s only reaction was to nod his head.  For just a moment it seemed that the girls'' minds were somewhere else, then a fleeting, startled expression crossed the boy''s face, after which he said, "Yes Mrs. Ringvold.  We will.  I''m Jason Fukui.  I''m pleased to meet you."


    "Jason Fukui.  I don''t suppose you might be related to Sebastian Fukui?"


    Jason responded, "Yes ma''am.  He''s my father."


    "Well, well.  It really IS a small world.  Will you do me a small favor and please tell your father that those new Festa pastries turned out great?  They taste just as good as always, but they''re working faster to kill the bitterness of the draught."


    Jason smiled back.  "Sure thing.  He was pretty sure that tweaking the recipe would do the job, but he always says: ''No matter how good you think something is, the customer is the one who tells you whether or not you''re right''."


    "Mind if I sit for a bit?"  Without waiting for an answer, Alicia pulled out the bench across from them and sat herself down.  "Your father is a wise man as well as being the best patisserie in the entire city.  Someday you may hear people who don''t know any better refer to him or someone else in the same line of work as ''only'' a baker.


    "I may be biased being sort of in the same line of work,"  She made a broad gesture that took in her building, "but let me tell you this, someone who finds the flavor of their food disagreeable, or, worse, that it makes them ill, is a miserable person.  Humans are capricious creatures.  If we''re miserable, many of us try to make someone else miserable just so we''re not feeling awful by ourselves.  It''s mean and stupid but there you are."


    She stood suddenly.  "Look at me, practically giving you a lecture when what you really need is a good meal.  Fortunately I can remedy that.  After all that''s what my calling is.  I''ll bring it right out."  She bustled into the kitchen and soon returned with not just sandwiches but crisp green salads and a new pear for each of them for dessert.


    "I''m charging you girls only for the sandwiches, and I''ll put it on your family tab.  As for you Jason, since you''ll be saving me the trouble of walking all the way to your father''s shop and back to give him my report, this one is on the house."


    She smiled winningly at him.  "Of course, if you should come back later, especially if you bring friends, I won''t mind at all."


    Jason sat motionless for a few seconds then winced slightly, as if two small feet had just kicked him in the shins.  The girls faces were suspiciously blank.


    "Oh. Thank you very much Mrs. Ringvold.  If the food tastes as good as it smells, I''m sure that I''ll be back again."


    `    Alicia bestowed a smile on them, then turned to leave.   The boy was definitely lacking in social skills, but it was evident that the girls were working with him.  By the time they were married, she was certain that they''d have him reasonably well trained.  From what she''d seen so far, they''d probably made a good choice.  He''d needed some prompting, but his words had been his own.  He was not only polite; he had chosen what he said with care.


    He certainly wasn''t getting the short straw.  She''d known the girls most of their lives, and both of them were charming, intelligent, and pretty.  He was probably going to find himself deliciously happy once they got settled in with each other.

 Vol 2 - Ch 13 Unexpected Dividends

    After they''d eaten and had said their goodbyes, they discovered what everyone learned eventually. Going downhill is a lot easier than going back up, especially when you''ve been ill.   The girls were tired enough that they didn''t raise any serious objections when Jason hailed a cab to take them home.  All it had taken for them to agree was for him to point out that he hadn''t had to pay for his lunch and thus it wasn''t really what you could consider an extraordinary expense.


    When they got home, the three of them popped in on Blair to report the results of their experiment and to tell her that the twins owed Alicia for lunch.  Blair nodded, then dismissed Jason, with:  "Thank you for bringing them home.  I''ll see you later."


    Jason was in a good mood.  He''d had to be prompted to speak at the inn, but he''d apparently said the right things.  Not only that but he''d been able to spend the entire day with the twins.


    That night he fell asleep easily and slept deeply.  The next morning he awoke feeling refreshed and ready for whatever the day would present, which, contrary to what you might expect after so many things had happened recently, was nothing in particular.  And so it was for them for most of the next year.


    -------------------


    Monday, February 27, in the Year 724 After the Founding


    "Mrs. Fukui, Mrs. Fukui, may we have a minute please?"


    Akane turned around to see a group of five students scurrying to catch up with her.  "Of course you may.  Here, or in my office?"


    "Oh, here will be fine.  It''s nothing private or anything.  It''s just that we haven''t been able to come up with any ideas for our end-of-term papers and were hoping you might have some suggestions?"


    How very interesting.  Most of her students disliked writing papers as a matter of principle, especially if the subject was history.  Many young people viewed history as irrelevant, even budding scholars at a school like Ingvold.  Normally they only asked her for advice when the deadline was approaching, which usually resulted in papers that looked like, and probably were, finished at 2 a.m. the morning of the day they were due.  The end-of-term papers weren''t due for another two months.


    "May I ask why you want my suggestions?"


    There was a bit of shuffling of feet, and some slightly embarrassed looks, but finally Aleena  Speziale spoke up, "Well.  It''s because class has been a lot more fun the past few months.  It''s even a bit exciting sometimes."


    She turned to her companions. "Right?"


    Akane saw nods all around.  Interesting.  The reason for their attitude change was glaringly obvious and irritated her no end.  She must have been awful to them before she began spending time with Blair and Miranda.


    Thinking quickly she came up with a possible solution.  "Well, let''s see.  First I''ll ask you a question.  Last semester we read some of the ancient Greek plays, including Aristophanes'' comedies.  Did you enjoy them?"


    Seeing smiles and nods, and hearing one whispered comment, "It''s a good thing our parents haven''t read them," she continued, "You said that class was more fun.  Why not use that as the basis of your papers.  Look up the different ways humor has been presented in various cultures and times.  Then see if there has been any effect on the culture in general or specific.


    "For example, we know that Plato said that Aristophanes'' play ''The Clouds'' was at least partly responsible for the execution of Socrates.  You might look for other examples of humor affecting either single important people, or groups, or whatever."


    She leaned toward them with a conspiratorial look.  "Besides, you might enjoy reading some of that material just as much as you did Lysistrata.  "How does that sound?"


    Aleena exclaimed, "That sounds great Mrs. Fukui!"  She turned to her friends. "What do you all think?"


    There were murmurs of agreement, thanks, and smiles, followed by the the group making a beeline for the library.  They wanted to get the books they needed before some upperclassman learned of their project and took what they needed just to spite them.


    Not for the first time, Akane marveled at how every group tended to be a microcosm of cultures as a whole.  The groups might be smaller, but they tended to all be the same, whether helpful, neutral, or hurtful.  They were always there.  She was sure that there was an excellent paper hiding in the concept, but nowadays she was far to busy to do more than make suggestions to others.


    Hiroshi Macklin had been right when he''d said, "Welcome to The Insomniac''s Club."  Even when nothing momentous was going on, just keeping up with the daily demands of the job was exhausting.  It was especially true in her case since she was working with both Blair and Miranda on a regular basis, and even Hiroshi from time to time.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.    One thing had become clear as crystal.  Being needed, and appreciated, by those one worked with did wonders for one''s attitude.  She suspected that she''d been more than a bit of a sourpuss for most of the years she''d been teaching.  She was aware that she''d been "needed" by Ingvold, but she had never before felt appreciated.  All in all, it was rather pleasant.


    She shook her head slightly.  Standing in the hall woolgathering wasn''t getting any work done.


    --------------


    After school she''d managed to wrap things up a bit earlier than usual, so she stopped by to see Miranda.  It was more because she wanted to see a friend than because she had any particular business.  The entire idea that she HAD friends was new to her, and, in the back of her brain, there was a little voice that occasionally popped up and told her that she was imagining everything.


    She was escorted directly to the conservatory.  It was glassed in on five of its six sides and was a bit over eight meters tall and 11 meters wide.  A few plants crowded the top, having been planted as many as nine generations in the past.  Miranda had readily admitted to Akane that she had, at best, a thumb that could barely be considered green, so she left the care of all the plants to the Donetti''s gardener, who was himself the third generation in service.


    Had anyone been able to look in past the bushy trees that rose above the wall surrounding the property, they might have concluded that Miranda was one of the lay-about wives who never concerned themselves with anything other than clothes, parties, and gossip.  As Akane now knew, Miranda''s limp pose was due to fatigue.


    "I don''t want to take any of your time Manda, especially when I''ve showed up unannounced.  To tell the truth, I just wanted to see a friendly face before I went home.  Some of those hidebound, dried up old men at school still treat women as beneath them and think of us as unworthy to be teachers,  which makes no sense at all.  When I was especially pissed off at them a few years ago I looked up who their  teachers were.  A full half of them were women."


    Miranda smiled up at her.  "And that my dear is why women are the most successful spies.  Most men still have that unconscious feeling of superiority.  In fact, we make use of it on a regular basis.  All three of us have rather flamboyant men in our employ whose job is to look as if they might be spies.  Would it surprise you to find out that each of them has a woman on his staff who takes great pains to be unremarkable and that they''re the ones who usually find things out for us?"


    Akane chuckled, with a touch of bitterness.  "Not really.  Knowing what I do now, I''m not surprised at all.


    "Anyway, thanks for seeing me and letting me unwind a bit.  I''ll take my leave and let you rest.  Gods know that you need it."


    Miranda grinned.  "Isn''t that the truth?  Oh, and while you''re here, I have something for you."


    For just a moment she looked somewhat flustered.  That was very uncharacteristic of her.  Normally, no matter where she was, she had perfect control of her face.


    Suddenly Mimi appeared and handed something to Miranda.  Then she took herself away as quickly as she had come.


    "Ah, I, we, owe you an apology.  It was just yesterday that we noticed it, and, being a Sunday, we couldn''t do anything about it until today.  So don''t worry about dropping in unannounced.  I needed to see you.  Anyway, here..."


    Miranda held out a slip of paper, which Akane accepted, though she was uncertain what had just happened.  She took a quick glance, then did a double-take and looked for quite a bit longer.  It was a deposit receipt documenting a substantial addition to her account at the bank she and Sebastian used.


    As she was standing there, stunned, Miranda said, "Oh, and don''t worry that anyone at the bank will be asking questions about where the money came from.  By pure chance, if you believe in such a thing, your bank is secretly owned jointly by Robert and Hiroshi.  A few years ago Hiroshi suggested to  Robert that they were missing a great deal of profit by not having at least some dealings with the middle class.  Robert researched it and realized that Hiroshi was right.  They started this as a private project because some of their regular customers at Griffon are such snobs that they don''t want to be associated with people who themselves associate with their ''inferiors'' -- the idiots.


    "At any rate, it''s now the one we use for payments to our agents and for any other ''special'' expenditures.  All employees have been carefully selected and trained.   Since that near disaster with the late, unlamented Avi last fall, Hiroshi has rechecked the credentials of every employee.  They all checked out."


    Akane''s response was more of a stammer than anything else, "All right. I understand that, but, but, why?"


    Miranda correctly divined the intent and giggled.  She disliked giggling as it made her sound far too young, but sometimes you just had to, right?  "Akane, neither your city nor your country expect you to work for free.  It would be nice of course, but if we didn''t pay you it would set a very dangerous prececent.  Can you imagine how easy it would be to bribe an agent who never got paid for risking her life or who was paid only a pittance?"


    "Oh.  Well, yes, that''s true Manda, but this much?"


    "First of all, you''re working for all three of us, which is officially two and a quarter positions that you occupy.  You''re getting paid for one and a half -- as always our budget is far less than what we really need.  Also what you see there is only part of what we owe you.  We here in The City get paid quarterly since all of us have other jobs that provide our ''official'' incomes.  That''s your pay for the September through November period.  Another deposit will be made at the end of next week for December through February.  That one will be much larger as you''ll have worked all three months and not just two."


    Akane was feeling rather faint, but there wasn''t a chair nearby for her to drop into, and falling on the floor was incredibly undignified, so she took slow, deep breaths until her head stopped spinning.  "Ah yes, I see.  Thank you for the explanation.  I think I should take my leave and get home.  I need to see about feeding those piranhas I call my children."


    "Bye Akane.  I''ll see you Wednesday for our usual confab."


    "Yes, indeed.  I''ll plan on seeing you Wednesday.  Goodbye."


    Just before she stepped out into the street, Akane buried the receipt in the bottom of her clutch.  Once she got home she''d put it in the secret drawer in the back of the desk she''d inherited from her grandmother.


    It wouldn''t do if she spent the money all at once.  That would draw unwanted attention.  However there were a number of small things around the house she''d had to put off that could now be attended to.  They were highly unlikely to be noticed if she spread the expenditures over the next month or so.  Also, some of the children''s clothes were getting to be either a bit worn, or too small.  Replacing them would be seen as only natural.  This time though, she''d be opting for better wearing, and thus more expensive, fabrics.  In the long run, it might even save her money.

 Vol 2 - Ch 14 A Surprise Meeting

    Saturday May 6th, of The Year 724 After the Founding


    Mario had arisen early that morning.  The previous afternoon they''d somehow managed to arrive  three hours ahead of the time he''d expected, and he''d thoroughly enjoyed a rare, full-night''s sleep.  Having Aldus Ringvold working as The Company''s local agent, as well as being part owner of the Mule''s Tale Inn, made this city one of Mario''s favorites.  And it wasn''t just that his workload was essentially nil once the mules were unloaded, the merchandise inventoried, and put into storage.


    Even though he''d eventually figured out that Miranda was probably getting the lion''s share of the value from their exchanges over the past five years, he still looked forward to them.  To be honest, he enjoyed her company and her conversation.


    As he''d realized, or subtly been steered to the realization of, the kinds of information she valued the most were a bit more, what was the word...comprehensive...than what a banker''s wife would normally need in order to be of help to her husband.  From that point on, he''d poked and prodded a bit more than the average merchant would have done, and he''d also begun to build up a loose network of informants.


    It wasn''t that he asked for anything in particular.  That might have drawn attention.  What he told his people to do was get back to him with any gossip about interesting financial dealings, or anything else that caught their attention.  None of what he collected was, of itself, anything a good merchant wouldn''t be on the lookout for.   After all, information is what drives trade.  The difference in his case was that the quantity he amassed was far beyond what most merchants would seek.


    He made no secret of his "work."  He dispensed coppers, and occasionally a silver grosso, to anyone who came to him, even it what they told him was obviously false.  His general description in most cities was basically: "That fool who throws his money away."   When the people who had information of real value sought him out, they were dismissed by any onlookers as just another person leeching money from a "sucker."


    When he''d first told Miranda what he had done, she stared at him then muttered, "Stupid boy," and had followed her comment with a purse containing what he had spent so far along with enough extra to easily double his network.  Then she''d said, "Put nothing in writing.  Just tell me how much you need after each trip."


    He knew that she was manipulating him again.  He''d been taught almost from the beginning of his apprenticeship that trust buys loyalty much more effectively than money.  He didn''t really care though.  He was having far too much fun.  Not that he disliked being a merchant -- far from it.  He found it fascinating.  It wasn''t "fun" though.


    All of that was behind the spring in his step as he walked up the hill.  He''d stop and have coffee at his favorite shop along the way and then present himself at Miranda''s door as close to 9:30 a.m. as he could manage.  Her husband would be at work, and her children should be off visiting friends by that time.  Either that or they and their friends would be busy in their rooms.  Either way his arrival would likely not be particularly remarked upon.


    That morning, as he gave his report, there was something he couldn''t quite put his finger on that was making him uneasy.  Eventually he asked, "Mrs. Donetti, I apologize in advance, but I''ve grown a bit tired of sitting after being on a horse every day for the past week.  Would you please allow me to walk back and forth a bit to stretch my legs?"


    Miranda waved her consent with a smile.  She''d been saddle sore a time or two in her youth, and, although it had been a while, she still recalled how uncomfortable it had been.


    "Thank you ma''am."  Mario slowly walked back and forth, speaking all the while so as to not interrupt his report.  Then, as per their agreement, he began to ask questions about the valuation of various objects Miranda had added to the decorations in her office since his last visit.


    It was his tone that started her whiskers twitching.  She began to pay a bit more attention, not to what he was saying, but where he was walking.  Eventually she recognized what he was doing.  He was walking in such a way that he would, in time, cover every square foot of exposed space.  There wasn''t much left, so, rather than saying anything, she concealed her smile and waited.   Someone, or, more probably, two someones were about to be very surprised.


    Mario had bent slightly forward to look at a rather fine mask from Africa when he suddenly whirled to his right, stepped forward, and threw his arms wide.  When he closed them, he found himself holding a thoroughly embarrassed and angry Eugenia.  First she tried to knee him in the groin, but he blocked.  Then she tried to stomp on his foot, but he''d pulled it back far enough that she couldn''t.  Her arms were pinned to her sides, so she tried to bite him.  All that got her was a mouth full of leather vest as he was a good 25 centimeters taller than she was.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Throughout the process, which took about 20 seconds, Mario never loosened his grip.  What infuriated Genie was that Mario had continued to speak to her mother.  "Pray tell Mrs. Donetti, how should one value something like this?  It''s a most lifelike automaton.  It also seems to be substantially stronger than any other I''ve encountered, not to mention that I don''t believe I''ve ever run across one that was bespelled to be unseeable."


    Miranda responded in a neutral tone, "Such creations are misleading.  While their initial price is not all that high, maintenance costs can be astronomical.  Not to mention that they, at times, appear to manifest a great deal of willfulness.  Alltogether, though I''ve had this one for seventeen years now, I''m still not sure if the value has outweighed the cost."


    Mario pondered briefly.  "Ah. I see.  I''d not factored that into my evaluation.  As always I see that I still have a great deal to learn from you."  He looked down at the furious Eugenia.  "As I suppose this little one does as well."


    He loosened his arms slightly, then tightened them again.  "Though I must admit that holding it is surprisingly comfortable."


    By then Genie had had more than she could tolerate.  She hissed from between clenched teeth, "Either let me go or suffer the consequences."


    Mario looked surprised.  "By the gods!  It talks!  However I see that it speaks without meaning."


    His voice lost its teasing tone as he looked directly at Eugenia and said softly, "One shouldn''t make threats that one cannot carry out.  It could end up getting you badly hurt if you''re talking to the wrong person."


    He looked at Miranda, who nodded.  Mario unwrapped himself from Eugenia and stepped back, putting himself in a guard position.


    Eugenia looked at him and was thoroughly disgusted.  The ease with which he was standing spoke of years of practice and a skill much greater than her own, at the present at least.  There was no way she could do anything to him even now that she was unencumbered.


    Miranda cleared her throat, to get Genie''s attention and drawled, "He''s been one of Hiroshi Macklin''s students for four years now.  As he''s on the road most of the year, and is often in places devoid of entertainment, I imagine that he''s had about 10 times the hours of practice that you have."


    She pointed at a chair to the left of her desk.  "Sit Eugenia.  Mario is about to tell us how he spotted you."


    Mario bowed.  "As you wish ma''am.  The first thing I noticed was a very faint scent that I''ve not encountered at our previous meetings.  Also, whenever a breeze blew in through the window, based upon where you were sitting, it should have temporarily blown it away from me were it a perfume you were wearing, yet it was stronger each time.


    "That''s why I asked permission to stand and walk.  Oh, by the way, I''m years past the point where riding causes any discomfort.


    "At any rate, I was eventually able to localize the source to one side of the room.  For a while I thought perhaps one of your pieces was scented in some way, or maybe you had stored incense on a shelf.  At the end though I heard breathing, which led me to grabbing this pretty young lady, who is I presume, given the resemblance, your daughter?"


    "You presume correctly."


    Miranda turned to Genie.  "Tell me."


    "Yes Mother.  First of all, I need to find a way not to have any scent remain after bathing, washing my hair, or even on my clothing.  Secondly, when near another person, there''s no telling how good their hearing is.  Just freezing won''t work.  I need to hold my breath as well."


    "Very good Genie.  You left out only one thing.  You''re going to have to find a deodorant that is scentless.  Otherwise your stink will alert anyone within 20 meters to your presence."


    Eugenia jumped to her feet.  "I do NOT stink!"


    Mario didn''t, quite, smother his snicker in time.  Eugenia spun and glared at him then asked testily, "Mother, may I have your permission to withdraw and take my smelly self to my room?"


    Miranda pondered then replied, "I think not.  Today is clear and will be neither chill nor excessively warm.  Abide here a while."


    She faced Mario.  "If I recall correctly, your company has a storage facility along Warehouse Row, does it not?"


    Marion nodded.  He often was unsure of the direction of her questioning, and this was one of those times where he had not a clue.


    Turning back to Eugenia she went on, "We know the safe, and not so safe, range of the others.  I think it''s time we found out if you are likewise restricted, and, if so, how much."


    Mario was even more confused, but he looked on attentively. He''d learned that Miranda always explained herself when she wanted something.  She didn''t always explain fully, but she did explain.


    "Mario, you''ll take Eugenia here with you.  It''s time you did an inspection of the facility and discussed security with the guards, don''t you think?"


    Mario bowed.  "I do believe you''re right."


    He turned and bowed to Eugenia, though to a lesser degree.  "Miss Eugenia, would you care to accompany me on an inspection tour of our warehouse facilities?"


    She plastered a totally false smile on her face.  "But of course.  I would be pleased to.  I''m sure that we can find something to discuss."


    Miranda clapped her hands.  "There you go.  All settled.  Genie go change into your riding clothes.  You can rent a horse at the Mule''s Tale."


    Once Genie had left Miranda told Mario, "It''s possible that she may become somewhat ill on the way.  If she begins to look faint, or worse, looks like she may fall out of the saddle, turn around at once and return.  I should warn you.  She''s at least as stubborn as I am."


    Miranda raised her voice somewhat, "Genie I told you what to do.  Quit listening at the door and start moving.  I don''t want you keeping Senior Journeyman Mario Brown waiting.  Get!"


    Neither of them heard a thing, but somehow both of them felt a furious aura that gradually faded away down the hall.

 Vol 2 - Ch 15 A New Beginning

    As the two left the house, Miranda thought back to when she''d first met Mario.  At the time she''d assumed that it would be much as 10 years before he would be ready to be fully recruited.  She''d only been off by about five.  He was smart, inquisitive, and sneaky.  Very sneaky.  He''d come up with his plan for gathering information all on his own, and he''d just turned 19 when he had done it.  It was also a very good plan.


    It would be interesting to see what, if any, influence he would exert on Eugenia.


    Genie would have answered "none" had she known what her mother was thinking.  She was prepared to stay angry at Mario for the entire duration of their ride, but she soon found it impossible.  Discovering that he was a Senior Journeyman at his age...  She didn''t know exactly what it meant, but he was much younger than the others of his rank she''d met.


    While she sulked, Mario gave a running description of what he''d seen on his way to The City.  He had a lovely baritone voice, and it was obvious that he paid attention to all manner of things.  His description of the origin and probable path her rather plain looking broach had taken to reach The City fascinated her.  She''d never thought of it as anything but a rather simple bauble that she valued more because it had been given to her by her older brother Paolo than because of its monetary worth.


    What she learned from Mario was that it had probably come from China, and it had likely taken anywhere from two to four years to reach her.  She was fascinated.  Before she realized it, she was talking to him as if she''d known him for years instead of less than two hours.


    He was very patient with what were probably naive questions about the world outside.   Clearly he knew of how little most residents of The City travelled, and not once did he show a sign of impatience.


    The idea that she might,  because of her link to the others, be restricted in her movements had frightened her.  She had always planned, hoped, that she''d be able to travel someday.  She''d been with the family as far away as Milan on three occasions when they''d visited relatives in years past, but she knew that there was so much more to see, and her desire to see it caused an almost physical pain.  Thinking about it made her wonder why they''d not travelled anywhere in the past six years.


    The further they rode, the lighter her heart became.  When they passed the five kilometer road marker, she was nearly ecstatic.  They were at least six kilometers away from the others, and she felt just fine.  When they reached the warehouse belonging to The Company, she could no longer contain herself.  She was riding a young mare that had somehow picked up on Eugenia''s excitement.  When Genie loosened the reins and gave her a bit of heel, the mare took off at top speed across the field adjacent to the buildings.  It was glorious.


    The spring flowers flew past.  They sky was an incredible azure blue, with just the right number of fluffy white clouds to keep it interesting.  Everything was absolutely perfect...perfect......perf.......


    "Eugenia.  Eugenia!  Genie!  Are you OK?  What''s wrong?"


    She shook her head, and glanced around.  What the?  She was back by the warehouses.  She turned to an obviously distressed Mario, who was holding the reins of her horse.  She took a deep breath and inventoried herself.  Other than some very slight wooziness, which seemed to be fading by the moment, she felt fine.


    "I''m fine Mario.  What happened?  The last thing I remember, I was riding through that field over there."


    "It was more like you were flying, but, yes, that''s where you were.  You both seemed to be enjoying yourselves when you suddenly reined her in.  For a moment I thought you were going to fall."  He nodded. "Yes, you did pull her up that short.  It''s a good thing she''s the cooperative sort.  Otherwise she might have been irritated enough to buck you off.


    "After that you just sat there, with the reins up against your chest and your head hanging down.   Once I caught up with you, I took the reins and led you back here."


    He looked at her carefully.  "I don''t have any medical training to speak of, but you look like  you''re feeling OK.  Are you?"


    "Yes.  I''m feeling totally normal now.  Give me a second."


    She dismounted then walked back and forth a few times.  When she was satisfied, she performed a few basic kata.  Everything seemed to be working normally.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Mario looked at her inquiringly.


    "Yeah, I''m normal, at least as best I can tell.  I wonder what could have happened."


    Mario asked, "You don''t have some kind of chronic illness do you?  Your mother told me that if you looked faint I was to bring you back right away."


    Understanding flashed in her eyes.  The look Genie directed at him was so anguished that it might have thawed the heart of the Snow Queen.  Then she collapsed onto her knees and wept.


    Mario dismounted and quickly tied the horses to a hitching post outside the closest warehouse.  Then he trotted back and began to pat her on the shoulder, over and over again.  He had no idea of what else he could do.  He considered hugging her, but they''d just met, and he didn''t know if she was the kind of person who responded well to hugs, or one who needed to be alone in times like this.  Whatever "this" was.


    When she felt that she could speak coherently, she raised her face, with tears still running down her cheeks and whispered, "I thought I''d be able to fly, but it looks like this bird has clipped wings.  All I''m going to be able to do is dream about the sky."  Then she buried her face in her hands and wept some more.


    Mario waited semi-patiently.  Much as he wanted to do something for her, sometimes all you can do is wait.  His curiosity was beyond maximum, but any good trader learns how to wait early on.  Some deals depend on the customer being ready and not on how good the trade is.


    Finally she pulled out a handkerchief, blew her nose and said, "I guess we''d better get the horses and head back.  It looks like today isn''t nearly as nice a day as I thought it''d be."


    Mario looked at her dubiously and asked, "Are you sure you''re OK to ride?"


    Seeing her nod, he waited till she had mounted and then did so himself.  "Wait here a bit please. I still have to talk to the guard at our warehouse about two things."  He pointed to a building about three hundred meters away.  "It won''t take but six or seven minutes.  Is that OK?"


    Genie nodded.  As he rode off, she pulled out her water bottle and took a long drink.  She examined the buildings, wondering what the best way to break in would be.  Perhaps her mother could arrange for her to practice someday.  As her mind idled, she began to feel slightly woozy again.  That didn''t make sense.  She wasn''t moving.  So why?


    Gradually the feeling passed.  When it did, she looked up and noticed that her horse had been walking slowly toward Mario.  They were about 200 meters apart.  It didn''t make sense.  AT ALL.  But...maybe...just maybe.  She was well aware of the concept of "grasping at straws."  Even so, she hoped she was right.  An experiment was in order.


    She turned her horse and walked her down the road away from Mario.  Sure enough the wooziness gradually returned.  When it got to the point where it was getting fairly bad, and she was feeling slightly nauseous, she turned back and took another look.  Hmmm.  About 350 meters if she''d figured the size of the buildings and their separation accurately.


    Mario had finished whatever business he''d had, and had begun to ride back toward her.  Sure enough, the closer he got the better she felt.  Once he got to about 150 meters she felt just fine.  She looked up at the sun.  They could be back at the inn in just over half an hour if they trotted.  Once they had turned in the horses, they could have lunch.  Assuming that Mario would be free afterwards, they needed to talk to her mother.


    Whether he was free or not wasn''t all that important.  This couldn''t wait.


    (Well of course it could wait.  Even several days considering that Mario had a layover that would last a week, but you need to remember that Eugenia was only 17 years old.  "Impatience" might as well have been her middle name, which was another reason she wasn''t yet being considered for anything but the most simple field work.)


    Once they had gotten back to the inn and washed up, they went in to have lunch.  Things were''t too busy so there were a number of free tables.  It wasn''t a Festa week, and most families preferred to go out in the evening on Saturday, not in the middle of the day, mostly because many people worked at least half-days.


    Mario slid onto the bench of a table by a window.  Out of long habit he liked to be able to see what was coming, even in the safety of a city.  Eugenia started to sit across from him but found herself sliding in next to him.  She really didn''t think about it.  It just seemed to be more comfortable for some reason.  Mario stiffened in surprise, but he soon relaxed and enjoyed the sensation.


    Alicia waved off the server and went to wait on them herself.  First the twins and now this one.  How very interesting, especially as she was with Mario.  While he was training with Aldus, she''d heard a lot about him, and it was mostly good.  The past two years on his own she''d seen much more for herself, and she liked what she''d seen.


    She took their orders then hurried back to the kitchen.  There was no chance that they''d notice the foolish grin on her face once she was on the other side of the wall.


    As they headed back up the hill after lunch the streets became busier.  Many of the shops had now closed and people were bustling around doing whatever errands had needed to be put off until the end of the week.  After a couple of people with too much on their minds and too little attention for where they were going had bumped into them, Genie, much to Mario''s surprise, took his hand.


    She explained it by saying, "It''ll take too much time to find you if we get separated.  I don''t want you getting lost on the way back to the house."


    He considered reminding her that not only did he already know the way, but he''d been there many times in the past.  After giving the idea due consideration, he realized that it really wasn''t important and, besides, her hand felt quite comfortable in his.  He decided not to say anything and to let her have her way, at least this time.

 Vol 2 - Ch 16

    Miranda was standing on a second floor landing at the front of the house adjusting the position of the potted plants in the bay window overlooking the street.  From that height, it was easy to make out the small knot of disturbance in the crowd that marked the passage of someone in a hurry.  Soon she was able to discern that the person in a hurry was Eugenia, who was, by then, practically towing Mario behind her.  How very interesting.  From anger to holding his hand, albeit in a non-possessive way.  This promised to be amusing.


    She turned to find Mimi immediately behind her.  "Do you need something Madame?"


    "Tea for three in my office please.  As soon as it is ready."


    "Of course Madame."


    MIranda glanced briefly out the window again, then turned back.  Mimi was nowhere to be seen.  Someday she''d have to ask her how she did that.


    She let them in the door herself, and, once it was firmly closed, looked pointedly at their clasped hands.  Genie let go as if she''d just been burned.  Mario simply smiled and shrugged his shoulders.


    "Come with me you two.  It seems we have something interesting to discuss."


    Mario looked a question at Genie, how could Miranda possibly have known?


    Genie shrugged and lifted her left arm with the palm up; a gesture indicating, roughly, "I have no idea either, but that''s the way she is."


    Once they were seated in Miranda''s study, Genie said, "You first Mario.  Then me.   After that, Mother and I may need to speak privately for a bit."


    Miranda nodded, so Mario summarized their day together, except for Genie''s "spell" which he described in detail.


    Genie followed with a vague description of her physical well-being as it related to distance from Mario.


    All Miranda said in response was, "Interesting."  She raised her head, then, rather than using the bellpull as she usually would, she decided on an experiment.  She spoke in a conversational tone, "Mimi?"


    "Yes Madame?"


    Nobody had seen her enter the room, but she was standing just inside the closed door.  "Please invite Jason and the twins to join us.  As soon as is convenient for them.  Please apologize to their mothers for me, and tell them that I need to ask them a few questions."


    "Yes Madame.  Immediately."  Mimi swirled out the door and quietly closed it behind her.


    Miranda smiled at Genie and Mario, who were clearly confused.


    "Abide a while children.  I need to clarify something before we proceed further.  To do that I need a bit of help.  While we''re waiting, just relax and enjoy your tea."


    "Yes Mother."   "Yes ma''am."


    Seventeen minutes later the twins and Jason were ushered into the room.  Miranda knew for certain because she''d checked the clock when Mimi left.  Very interesting, but also very irritating.  Even were the Saturday crowds not in the street, it would take about five or six minutes to walk to Blair''s home, and from there it was another eight or nine minutes to the Fukui''s.  Then 12 or so more to return.  Even if the children had each been standing in the doorway of their homes, with their mothers next to them, the soonest they could have gotten here would have been about 25 minutes.


    It felt like a fog that had been fuzzing her mind for the past few years had been lifted.  After she sorted things out with the children, a full investigation was warranted.


    Introductions were made all around.  Mario was quietly polite, but his curiousity was growing more and more obvious.  What in the world was going on?


    Miranda explained what had happened to Eugenia that morning.  Immediately the twins turned to each other and their eyes went slightly blank.  For a moment Mario was puzzled, but then he had it.  Ah!  They were speaking in "twin."  He''d heard of it, of course, but he''d never seen it this closely before.  He relaxed back into his chair.  However, what happened next almost had him leaping to his feet in astonishment.


    The twins, their names were Yoko and Hibiki, he''d have to remember that, had turned to the boy named Jason.  Now all three of them had that fuzzy look.  What in the world?  While he was no expert, everyone knew that only twins could speak "twin."  Which meant two people.  However it certainly looked like he was speaking to them in the same way.  They couldn''t be triplets.  They looked nothing alike, not to mention that their surnames were different.


    He turned to Miranda, intending to ask for an explanation, but was forestalled by her grin and a finger across her lips compelling his silence.


    The three newcomers seemed to have finished whatever it was.  They stood and moved to stand behind Eugenia.  Jason stood with his hands on her shoulders, then the twins each put both of their hands on one of his.  All three of them closed their eyes and soon had looks of intense concentration.


    Mario mouthed, "What''s happening?"


    Genie answered in the same way, "No idea."


    They both turned to Miranda, who smiled smugly back at them.  It was important that one  keep up one''s appearance as the font of all knowledge.  She knew why she''d called the trio, and what she suspected, but, In reality, she had no idea what exactly was going on either.


    After a minute of absolutely nothing visible happening, the three opened their eyes.  Hibiki looked at Mario with speculation in her eyes.  Jason said, "Interesting...."


    Yoko was a bit more forthcoming and smirked at Genie.  "I guess we''re not gonna have ta help ya find him after all."


    At first Genie was at a loss, but as she replayed what Yoko had just said, she remembered what the twins had promised her on the day they''d smashed their way into her mind.  Mario thought that her sudden blush made her even more attractive than ever, though he had absolutely no idea what might have prompted it.


    The tension in Miranda''s shoulders fled, and she leaned back in her chair.  So....  Very interesting.  Still, there were some details that needed firming up.  Facing the trio she said, "Thank you for coming.  There''s a bit more we need to discuss, but, for now will you please wait in the kitchen?"


    Dutifully they bowed then exited the room.


    Miranda added, "Genie, I think you need to go with them.  This time, no hanging around outside the door.  You won''t hear anything.  Besides Mimi will be escorting you downstairs."   Then she added to the apparently empty air, "Isn''t that right Mimi?"


    "Indeed it is Madame.  Shall we go Miss Eugenia?"


    Without waiting for an answer, Mimi stepped across the threshold of the room, walked to Eugenia, then took her arm before she led her out of the room and firmly closed the door.


    Mario''s eyes had automatically followed the movement.  Now however they swung back and focused on Miranda.  He didn''t bother asking anything.  He knew that she''d tell him exactly what she meant to say and not a word more.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    She leaned forward and steepled her fingers on her desk.  "I''d intended to wait at least another two or three years, but events often move outside of my control without asking permission."


    Seeing shock in Mario''s eyes, she hastened to add, "I''m joking little one.  I don''t have incredible magical powers, just a somewhat twisted sense of humor.  Oh, and please don''t agree with me.   Only my husband is allowed to do that."


    Mario nodded hastily.


    "Very good. Now, as to what is going on.  Before I explain, you need to make a decision.  If you can''t decide today, there''s really no hurry.  But I will ask that you give me your answer before you leave town on Friday morning."


    Mario nodded cautiously then looked at her attentively.


    "Some of what I''m about to tell you is probably not new to you, but as I don''t read minds, I''ll cover all the basics, just in case.  All twins born here speak ''twin''.  That is of course widely known, as it is that twins serve important roles in the military and business world by facilitating communications.   What isn''t all that well known is that some twins literally cannot be separated from each other for any length of time, even so much as spending a night at a friend''s home here in The City.  Such twins become physically ill even after those few hours.


    "In general the health of all twins is directly related to how far apart they are and for how long. Even the most robust will die if the separation is for too long or too far.


    "That also isn''t anything confidential, though even here only a minority of the population are consciously aware of it.  That I serve directly at the direction of Her Grace Duchess Henrietta as her eyes and ears in The City is.  You''re an intelligent young man.  You obviously had realized that I was more than I appeared, though it''s unlikely that you knew about the Duchess."


    She ended that last with a tilt of her head and a questioning expression, to which he shook his head "no."


    "I''m certain that I can trust you not to mention that to anyone. However, what I''d like to tell you now is not only confidential, it''s considered need to know.  At present there are only four people in the world who have thus far needed to know this particular information.  You''d be number five, if you are willing to devote the most important part of your future time to the service of the monarchy.  I am NOT asking you to quit what you love doing, far from it, but more of your time will be required to be spent on the various tasks I''d be assigning you.


    "In exchange you will have the gratitude of myself and the Duchess, though obviously not publicly.  I think that, as a merchant, you might also appreciate that your stipend would be substantially increased."


    Mario stood and bowed deeply. "Lady Miranda, any honest merchant, no, let me rephrase that.  Any merchant who is being honest with himself will admit that, in the long run, the money isn''t nearly as important as the trade.  Oh, yes, surely all of us enjoy what we can do with more money, but mostly it just lets us expand the, ah, ''size'' of our playing field.


    "I started ''playing'' in your world on my own when I began expanding my network of informants beyond what any merchant in his right mind would usually need.  Much as I find ''my'' game fascinating, yours is much more fun.


    "There''s one other thing any good merchant knows.  You can''t get ahead in the game if you let your opponents know what you know.  Secrecy and dealing with conspiracies small and large are our bread and butter.  Master Ringvold drilled that into me, sometimes most pointedly."  He winced, then shook himself.


    "So, I suppose I really don''t need till the end of the week, or even till tomorrow.  I''ll be pleased to join your ''new'' game.  I also promise not to say anything about it to anyone."


    He added thoughtfully, "I expect that we''ll need some time to thresh out the necessary details, but I can make myself free to begin as soon as tomorrow morning.  I''m at loose ends till one more shipment comes in from up north anyway, and it''s not due for another two to three days at the earliest."


    Miranda nodded and reached for the bellpull.  After the four children arrived, she gestured them to seats and for Mimi to close the door, after which she cast silence on the entire room.  "Yoko, Hibiki, decide which of you will best be able to explain your ''connection'' to Jason and Eugenia.  I''ll also want you to explain what''s going on between Genie and Mario."


    Yoko stood.  "I''ll do the first part.  I''ve gotta say that it surprised me.  Biki could feel what''s going on with Genie better than I could, though all three of us could tell that it''s there.  She''ll explain the second part, if that''s OK with you."


    Miranda gestured assent.  How interesting.  She wasn''t aware of anyone who knew that twins could have an "imbalance" of abilities.  She''d have to ask Akane to see if there were anything about it buried in the historical records.  For now though she focused her attention on Yoko, who had just turned to face Mario.


    "Biki and I are like any other twins when it comes ta ''speaking'' to each other.  There is one difference though.  Right after we started at Chapman two years ago, Jason surprised us, no, it was more like knocked us on the floor by starting ta speak to us in ''twin'' also."


    Mario stiffened in shock at the confirmation of his suspicion, but otherwise didn''t move or make a sound.


    Yoko nodded at him then continued, "We worked just like any twins do, except that there were now three of us.  Nothing changed until there was a messy, ah, ''incident'' last fall.  Ta fix it, the three of us forced Genie to join our group."


    A look of intense distaste crossed her face.  "All four of us were sick as dogs that''d eaten rotten meat afterwards, ''specially Genie.  Basically we were ''puking our guts up'' for about 10 minutes or so.  I didn''t check the time, and I don''t wanna even remember it.


    "Well, that''s my part.  All four of us can speak our version of ''twin'' now."


    As Yoko began to sit, Hibiki was standing.  "My turn now I think.  What Yoko did not tell you is that we cannot be separated from each other for any great distance without becoming ill.  Well, at least Jason, Yoko, and I cannot.  We never tested it with Genie.  For the three of us, the maximum distance we can be apart, where we can retain our faculties and do not feel excessively sick, is a bit under two kilometers, three if two of us are together."


    She paused and turned toward Miranda.  "Mrs. Donetti, may I please have a sip of water?  My throat is getting dry for some reason."


    Manda noted that Hibiki wasn''t all that good at acting yet, but it was passable.  Mario hadn''t  noticed how absurd her statement was.  At least he showed no sign of it if he had.  She''d have to sort that out later.  It might be important.


    "Of course my dear.  Come over here.   I have an extra glass."


    She poured.  As Biki approached, Miranda noticed tears in her eyes.  Ah.  So that was it.  She carefully slid a handkerchief across the desk while she handed Hibiki the glass of water.  Hibiki managed to sip with one hand and blot with the other, all the while keeping her blotting arm concealed by her body.


    "Thank you Mrs. Donetti. I feel much better now."


    She turned to Mario who was leaning forward with an attentive expression.  Genie however was sitting at the other side of the room and had had a clear view of what Hibiki had just done.  The question in her mind was: ''Why?"


    Hibiki nodded at Mario.  "Today the two of your were almost seven kilometers away from the rest of us.  Genie was doing well, until she was separated from you by several hundred meters.  Once she was, the symptoms you described were exactly what happens to us," she gestured at Jason and Yoko, "when we are getting too far apart from each other.


    "Our assumption is that she is now tied to us in that way as well.  We also suspect that you can, somehow, serve as a stabilizing factor, a ''roaming anchor'' if you will, and that your presence can  prevent her from suffering the effects of Separation Sickness.  We also have an idea as to why, but we need to discuss that with Genie and her mother, privately.  It will be up to them to tell you should they find it needful for you to know."


    As she sat, Jason unexpectedly stood and took up the narrative in a dry, matter-of-fact voice.  "We''ll need to do some testing, just to be sure.  It will, at the very least, require checking how far apart the two of you can be, without her falling ill, at varying distances from The City.  Since you seem to be a, shall we say, moderating factor rather than a critical one, the likelihood that your leaving The City on your business will cause her problems is probably nil.


    "We should test that anyway, some time before you must leave, just in case.  If you don''t account for all the variables in an experiment you''re likely to miss something, and it may be important so..."


    He recoiled slightly then smiled apologetically at the twins, "Sorry."


    He turned to Miranda, said, "I''m finished," then sat down.


    Miranda asked Mario, "Well youngling.  Do you have any questions?"


    Mario opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again and closed it once more.  Finally he said, "No, at least not right now.  I need to go away and think, probably overnight.  I''d like to speak with you in the morning.  If I may?"


    "Agreed.  Be here at 10.  I have things to do early in the day that I can''t reschedule.  The rest of the day I''ll have free since it''s a Sunday."  She looked at him closely.  "Though I think you''ll be joining us for Sunday dinner."


    Mario had trouble believing what he''d just heard.  Such an invitation was usually reserved only for visiting family or very close friends.  "Ah, yes ma''am.  I shall be pleased to join you.  Thank you very much."  He stood, bowed, then exited the room having recognized her tone of dismissal.


    After the door had closed, Miranda turned back to the twins. "Will you both need to be here?  If so Jason can wait in the family parlor."


    Yoko stood.  "No, Biki can deal with it.  Jason and I''ll go window shopping.  We have a friend with a birthday coming soon, and we haven''t bought her a present yet.  May we be excused?"


    "Of course.  I''ll have Hibiki call you when we''re finished."

 Vol 2 - Ch 17

    As they were headed down the street toward an area that had several moderately-priced gift shops that would be still be open, Jason asked Yoko, "Why did I need to leave?  I already know what''s going on."


    Yoko used her thumb to massage Jason''s palm.  He was getting excited, and they''d discovered that heading things off, before even the first sign of him acting on his impulses to bounce or spin or whatever, was the best way to go.


    "It''s like this dearest.  What Biki''s gonna say ta Genie will embarrass her.  Remember what I told ya about how people act when they''re not ready ta take a close look at something?"


    Jason nodded slowly. "Yeah.  They get embarrassed or angry, usually.  Or both.  Then they pretend that they have no idea about whatever it was, although they really do.  If they didn''t, they wouldn''t act that way in the first place."


    "Bingo.  I know it doesn''t really make sense, and ya can''t analyse it rationally.  That''s ''cause people aren''t rational when it comes ta their hearts."


    She smiled up at him.  "Like how it took you a while ta understand how you feel about us.  And  you let us help you figure it out, right?  Most people either won''t or can''t let someone else help.  Just imagine how hard it woulda been for ya all by yourself."


    Jason nodded, more confidently this time.  "I see!  Of course.  I might never have looked at  some things if you hadn''t helped me with them."  He looked around at the crowd.  "But most people look like they know what they''re doing."


    "That''s ''cause almost everyone learns as a child how to pretend and not ta let other people see how they''re really feeling.  There are lotsa reasons, and it might take a lifetime ta understand even half of ''em, so please just take my word on this''n, OK?"


    "Roger that."  Jason grinned. "I learned that from a guy I met who was in the navy.  Uh, is it OK to say that since I''m not in the navy?"


    "Sure you can, but it''s best only with friends and family.  With strangers or in formal situations, you want to use your ''careful'' words.    "It''s hard for me ta talk that way too.  Usually I don''t care how I say somethin'' as long as folks understand me."


    Jason nodded again.


    "OK.  So whadda ya think we should buy for Mira?  Something to wear, or something to display in her room, or maybe something else?"  While they chatted about Mira''s gift, Yoko kept in light contact with Hibiki, in case she were needed.


    (By the way, if you believe that, we have a lot of work yet to do.  She was dying of curiosity about how Genie would react and was looking forward to getting a running commentary on how embarrassed she was, how much she blushed, and sundry similar things over her private channel with Biki.)


    Back at the Donetti''s:


    Hibiki ''watched'' the others on the way out then reported, "OK, they''re outside.  It''s safe to talk."


    Eugenia looked back and forth from Hibiki to her mother, several times.  "Uh. Fine I guess.  But what is it we''re going to talk about?"


    Miranda sighed.  It was going to be one of those.  "All right Genie, let''s put it in context.  What''s the first rule for an agent."


    Genie looked puzzled at the change of topic but stood and recited, "More than anything else it is important that an agent understand herself.  If she doesn''t, when stressed, she''s likely to react according to instinct rather than according to her training.  Such action may compromise either the mission, her life, or both."


    "Good so far little one.  Now, apply that concept to what happened today, and I don''t mean just to what happened at the warehouses.  I mean everything since you left until you got back.  Don''t just react, analyse."


    "Yes Mother. Please give me a minute."


    "Take several.  Rushing when there isn''t an urgent need can also be dangerous."


    Eugenia remained standing, but closed her eyes and assumed a thinking position.


    OK.  Let''s see.  First - frustration, embarrassment, anger at being caught.


    Taking it out on Mario.


    (Hibiki noticed the first signs of a blush at that point and grinned at Miranda.)


    Gradually coming to see what a sensitive, compassionate, and intelligent person he was.  Enjoying his company.  Appreciation of his support during and after the incident.


    Lunch.  Oh, my....


    Normally when you''re with someone who is almost a stranger, you''d sit across from them.  She''d not only sat next to him but had slid over till their hips and shoulders touched.  That wasn''t how you act with a stranger.  It''s what you do with your lover.


    No wonder Mario had tightened up for a moment.  Now that she thought of it, Alicia rarely waited tables any more, and she''d seemed to be in an unusually good humor.  Oh no!


    Her face was suddenly flaming.  Both Miranda and Hibiki turned around, not to give Genie privacy, but to cover up the wicked smiles each was wearing.  Had Jason been looking at Yoko, he''d have seen the same thing.  Unlike the others, she was snickering, but at the same time she was doing her best to stifle the sound.  She valued her dignity very highly, and it wouldn''t do for those around her to think that she was laughing at nothing at all and was a bit "off."


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.    "All right.  You can turn around.  I know what you''re doing, and if you''re going to laugh I want you to do it to my face and not behind my back."


    Eugenia had her arms crossed on her chest and was glaring at the others with an intent, exasperated expression.


    "So, Mother, O Font of Wisdom, what are you hiding up your sleeve this time?  You wouldn''t have invited him to dinner tomorrow if you didn''t have some sort of plan."


    Miranda fluttered her eyelashes.  "Who?  Me?  Whatever could you be talking about daughter of mine?  How could you think I was up to something?"


    The effect was spoiled by Hibiki dropping to her knees and laughing uncontrollably, which prompted at least a few strained but genuine chuckles from Genie.  Her mother sat unmoving behind her desk, trying to project the air of one who would never stoop to such unrefined behavior.


    If it hadn''t been for the twitching of the corner of her mouth as she tried to keep from laughing along with Biki, she might have managed to pull it off.


    Once Biki got herself under control and resumed her seat, Miranda said, "I''m sorry dear one.  I''m sure you''ve heard me say it dozens of time, but it bears repeating.  In my line of work, you don''t have many opportunities to scheme about something that doesn''t risk someone''s life.  Doing it when it means making one of my children happy, well, there''s just about nothing I could think of that could give me greater pleasure."


    Genie sighed.  Even if it was at least half an act, she couldn''t stay mad at her mother when she said something like that.  "All right Mother.  I''ll accept that reason, at least provisionally.  Now, quit trying to avoid my question.  You''re the one who taught me not to get distracted when someone tries to change the subject.  So, what are you planning?"


    Rather than answering directly, Miranda turned to Hibiki.  "Biki dear, what did you all feel when you ''checked'' them?"


    "Warmth.  It was like the sun in spring.  It takes the chill off you, but it is not hot enough to burn.  It was flowing between them.  Genie was like, how to say it, like the moon I guess.  It cannot shine without the sun."


    She smiled at Genie.  "Yoko said it a few minutes ago, but you may have thought she was teasing you.  She was not.  We are not going to have to find you a good man.  It looks like he found you instead."


    She tilted her head to the side.  "To tell the truth, I never believed this ''love at first sight'' stuff.  Even now I must confess that I am not entirely sure that I do.  After all, it took Yoko and I almost two years before we realized that we loved Jason.


    "Answer this for me Genie, and please, tell me the truth.  Right this minute are you in love with Mario or is it rather that you would feel, uh, I guess the word I want is ''incomplete'' without him?"


    Eugenia''s blush threatened to return, but she fought it down.  "Um, well, to be entirely truthful I don''t know.  He''s smart, he treats me like a person and not a ''girl'' he has to talk down to because I''m female.  He''s also kind and compassionate.


    "As you say, I may not exactly be in love with him, but," she lifted her chin and looked directly and firmly at Hibiki even though her blush had returned with a vengeance, "I think it wouldn''t be all that hard to fall for him."


    "Thank you Genie.  You know as well as I do that most adults have convinced themselves that  children cannot think, cannot feel strong emotions, and cannot plan for the future.  That''s crap.  They just conveniently forget their own childhoods and do not listen.  In fact, from what our mother has indirectly told us, your mother depends on it and collects a lot of information from the kids working for her.  Though I doubt that any of them know what they are really doing."


    Surprise filtted across Miranda''s face briefly, then she supressed it.


    "No Mrs. Donetti, we do not know exactly what you are doing, and Mother would never blab about secret stuff to us, but we have lived with her all our lives.  I think all of us are pretty good at what you call ''reading between the lines''.


    "For example Yoko and I still have not figured out how Sara got out of the house that evening after the exams.  Her room was further from the landing than ours, and our door was open.  She could not have passed by without us seeing her, yet somehow she did.  We were most surprised when she did not come down for dinner, and we almost passed out on the floor when Paolo brought her home!  We never mentioned it, because it was obvious that Mother did not want to talk about it.  That does not mean we have given up on finding out though."


    She forced herself to ignore the sight of Genie''s chin dropping toward the floor in astonishment and continued, "It has been over six months since we caught Avi.  Did you think we would forget if you did not talk about it?  Do you think that we do not know that you killed him or had him killed?


    "To most people we are just 14 year old ''kids''.  Let me tell you a secret.  Kids lie to their parents ALL THE TIME when you ask us, are we scared, worried, or whatever. The average kid is probably just about as good at keeping secrets as you are.  If things are bad for our folks, we lie and say we are fine.  We are not stupid.  We see when just a bit more stress will overwhelm our parents, so we hide it.  Even when we love and trust our parents we hide things from them."


    She turned back to Eugenia.  "How many knives are you carrying right now Genie?"


    Genie shrugged her shoulders then faced her mother.  "Four."


    Miranda''s eyebrow twitched, but she didn''t make any other response.


    Biki cleared her throat then added, "Did you ever think that the bullies at school are just mean?  We know better, especially now that we and Jason can feel what they feel.  Most of them are scared stiff about something and are lying to themselves about how awful they feel.  They bully other kids because they do not know how to deal with their fear."


    Hibiki smiled self-deprecatingly. "Look at me.  I sound like Jason, going off into ''lecture mode''.  What I was trying to say is that Genie will tell you, and us, what she needs.  You do not need to do  everything for her any more.  The difference from us and other kids is that we KNOW we can talk to you about this kind of thing.  What you need to remember is that we have brains and we can use them."


    A giant smile spread across her face.  "That being said, I should love to be a fly on the wall when Mr. Donetti meets Mario tomorrow.  I shall wager that you do not intend to let him know before hand that Mario will be here for your Sunday dinner.  Am I correct?"


    Miranda turned her head and looked up at the ceiling.  She didn''t say a word.


    "MOTHER!," burst from Eugenia''s lips.  Then she also began to stare at the ceiling.  "I need to make sure that I''m somewhere I can see his reaction.  I''m looking forward to it too!"


    A happy, masculine voice broke in on Hibiki''s thoughts, "We found it Biki.  We found a really pretty pendant that will fit Mira perfectly.  It''s purple and pink, and it''ll go well with what she wears at school, but also when she''s out with friends.  It didn''t cost all that much either.  Does that sound OK?"


    "Yes dear, that sounds fine."


    While she was talking to Jason, she was on "channel 2" with Yoko, filling her in on the rest of what happened.  When she finished, Yoko pulled Jason to the side of the road, to a niche between two buildings.  She backed into it and pulled Jason forward so his body blocked anyone from seeing her.  Then she grabbed his lapels, buried her face in his chest and began to shake.


    Because of their link, Jason knew that nothing was wrong.  In fact he knew that she was nearly deliriously happy and was shaking with unvoiced laughter.  However he had absolutely no idea why she was feeling that way.


    Later, after she''d calmed and they were on their way back to pick up Hibiki, she refused to answer his questions about what happened beyond saying that it was "girl stuff."   Fortunately he already knew not to pry when one of the twins raised that particular flag, no matter how curious he was.  That doesn''t mean that he understood.  He didn''t.  As the years went by, he learned that most men never do understand everything about the women in their lives.  It''s just the way it was.

 Vol 2 - Ch 18 An Unexpected Financial Opportunity

    With regard to Eugenia and her knives, it''s not that they didn''t talk about it after Hibiki had left with the others.  They did, but not as you might think, with Miranda reading Eugenia the riot act.  It was more like, "As your superior you need to keep me informed of such things.  I''ll look like a total idiot if it came out that you were carrying knives, and I didn''t know.  Not to mention that if someone at school were to spot one of them and report it to a teacher or the headmaster, dealing with the aftermath would be more than difficult."


    Then she smiled, one of those "you''re not going to like it if I have to stop smiling" kinds.  "Your primary job right now is to study and, hopefully, to have fun now and then.  You''ve been through enough already.  Normally you''d have to be quite a bit older before you''d need to de-stress after an assignment.  Understanding how important that is, well, you''re not there yet.


    "Let''s make it simple, shall we?  Both as your ''boss'' and your mother, I''m ordering you to have fun.  You can start by spending more time with Mario before he leaves town on Friday."


    She followed with smirk and added, "Besides, this may be one of the few times in your life that you WANT to do something I''ve told you to do."


    Then she grinned at Genie.  "Just don''t get in the habit of expecting it.  It''ll be for your own good of course.  One must learn to roll with the punches, to take the bad with the good, to go with the flow, and to separate the wheat from the chaff.  All of which take a lot of experience.  Once you have that experience, you too will be able to fill your sentences with silly sayings without repeating yourself."


    During all this, Genie had stood in one place, trying to flog her mind into keeping up with what her mother was saying.  It was rather difficult seeing as she''d much rather be thinking about Mario.  Once her eyes began to glaze over, Miranda stopped speaking, stepped forward and hugged her impetuous offspring.  She held her gently until Genie began to fidget.  Miranda stepped back, put her hands on Genie''s shoulders, and looked at her lovingly for a few seconds.  Then she turned Genie around and gave her a gentle push toward the door, after which she thwapped her on the bottom, as hard as she could.


    "Mother!  That hurt!"


    "I felt two of the knives when I was hugging you.  You need to do a much better job of concealing them.  What if someone bumps into you at a ball and notices?  It''s going to be awfully hard for you to play the role of an empty-headed ingenue if that happens.


    "Now get going.  I expect that you''re going to be very busy after dinner tonight picking out what you want to wear tomorrow afternoon.  If you need help, call me...or Mimi.  She has impeccable taste."


    Genie turned around and, for a moment, stared at her mother.  After all these years together, she still didn''t understand what she was thinking most of the time.  She shrugged inwardly. Perhaps she never would.  Various emotions flowed across her face and finally settled on a combination of love and gratitude with just a touch of exasperation.  Then she smiled, bowed slightly, and exited Miranda''s office.  It was still a while until dinner.


    Her mother had been wrong about one thing.  She was going to need all the time available between now and tomorrow to make sure that she looked just right, not just the hours after dinner.  Not overly formal -- it was just Sunday dinner with the family.  Yet, at the same time, she didn''t want to look like a slob either, which, she had to admit, she occasionally did when it was only family.  She figured that she had just enough time to make a preliminary survey of her wardrobe and dresser before it was time to eat.  Then, if it turned out that what she already had wouldn''t work for the look she wanted, she''d still have time to go shopping that evening for any needed accessories.


    ------------


    Professor Ptica continued, "Speaking of which, Genie''s problem was one that the twins never had any more..."  She stopped there and consulted her datapad.  "All right.  I see that we''re actually several hours ahead of schedule this semester."


    She glared at the class, "It''s probably because I''ve managed to get you to understand what will happen to you if you interrupt me for trivialities.  Some classes in the past have been much too dense to understand even after I''d ''disciplined'' a few of them."


    Hearing that, a number of students began to shudder violently.  Ptica, apparently, ignored them, shrugged her shoulders, and added, "At any rate, I''ll explain my statement about the twins since we do have time.  It will give you some more useful background about The City.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.    "I''ll start with this:  For several hundred years, The City of The Bells had been THE center of commerce for an area extending for at least three hundred kilometers to the west and east -- excluding Venice of course -- and almost 400 kilometers to the north.  The concept that ''making money is a good thing'' was graven in the heart of every child in The City by the time they were four,  especially the twins, given that their father was a banker.  In fact, it wouldn''t be exaggerating to say that for the Macklin children "profit" was one of their favorite words.


    "Now, we shall resume."


    ------------------


    Within two months of starting to go out with Jason, the twins had discovered that one of his talents was essentially infallable.  Show him any girl''s or woman''s clothing and accessories, and he always chose the combination that would look best on them.  It didn''t matter if it was for casual wear or a formal party.  As with the present for Mira, he simply never was wrong.  Give him a free hand at a shop, and he''d always find some item or combination that looked far better than what the twins would have chosen, even working together.


    At first they''d gone along with Jason''s suggestions now and then, just to avoid hurting his feelings.  It wasn''t until they began to get compliments from multiple classmates and friends that the idea that they had a property of great value on their hands percolated into their minds.


    Once they''d finished gloating over how much money they were going to make, they did the intelligent thing and started small.  They let just two of their friends know their secret.  These particular friends were the most outgoing and least likely to refuse due to modesty issues when the process was explained.  The incentive of "half-price since you''re special" didn''t hurt either.


    What was required was that the twins and Jason visit their "client" at home. The girl in question had been told in advance that she was to wear only a chemise during the "consultation."  Then, while Jason observed, the twins would briefly hold every single piece of the girl''s clothing up against her, followed by every brooch, ring, hair clip, and any other accessory they owned.  Then all they had to do was say, "casual," "date," "formal" and such.  Jason would then select the ideal combinations, HIbiki would write down the particulars of each ensemble, and the girl would try them on.


    After leaving two ecstatic young women behind, word got around fairly quickly.  Enough of their classmates were willing to undergo the "ordeal" of a boy who wasn''t family seeing them in their underclothes that they were moderately busy.  Then the unexpected happened.


    One of their clients, Senra Krause, had an older sister at home the day of the consultation.  Like many older sibs, Serena walked into her little sister''s room without knocking.  Seeing her sister in only a chemise, and with a boy in the room, she''d probably have beaten Jason silly had she not also seen clothes everywhere and that both Yoko and Hibiki were present and acting like nothing out of the ordinary was happening.


    After explanations were completed, she''d sat and told them that she still reserved the right to "turn him into a eunuch" if she didn''t like how things turned out.  Then she told them to "get on with it."


    When they were finished with the sorting, she supervised her sister''s changing into each of the outfits, and then had surprised everyone by paying the fee herself.  "Consider it an early birthday present.


    "All right then.  It''s Hibiki, Yoko, and Jason, correct?"  Without waiting for a response she''d said, "Come with me," and had led them to her room.  She opened her wardrobe, spread all her jewelry on the bed and said, "Well, get started."


    As she was wearing only the equivalent of what one would now call a "t-shirt" and a pair of shorts, Jason nodded his acceptance.  Then the girls got to work.  As expected with an eldest child, she had substantially more clothing than her sib.  When they were finished, and everything and been recorded and tried on, Serena paid them, 50% more than her sister had.  "I assume that, even given the extra work, this will be adequate?"


    Yoko nodded, Hibiki wrote out a receipt, and Jason smiled.  He''d always liked being praised, and both the girls had told him, several times over their "twin channel", that what he had just done was a "good thing."   Even though he wasn''t a banker''s child, he still had the normal appreciation of cash that all children in The City did.


    Business had fairly exploded after that as Serena rapidly spread the word to her friends.  It soon got to the point that, once their parents noticed how busy they were, limits were put on their "consultations."  The children were told that while money was all well and good, school came first.  Blair and Hiroshi were pleased as punch at their daughters'' "entrepreneurial enterprise."  Akane nearly burst with pride.  Her Jason, whom everyone had been telling her for  years would never amount to anything, had proven them wrong.  The hefty deposits to his bank account were a vindication.


    After Serena they''d changed their procedure with a sigh of relief.  The twins hadn''t really liked Jason seeing other girls wearing so little, even if he wasn''t interested in them "that way."  A t-shirt and shorts helped them keep their "jealousy antennas" under better control.  It also substantially expanded their potential client list at the same time, since many more girls were now willing to have consultations.


    As time went by, the girls discovered that they had a talent as well.  It was, perhaps, not as overtly impressive as Jason''s, but it was one that was just as important to their clients.  They had realized that they could work out the perfect way for a client to wear her hair with each outfit. In addition to effusive thanks from the clients, they were also able to increase their fees by 15%.

 Vol 2 - Ch 19 20% Extra

    The trio''s business had progressed steadily by the last day of October of AF 723.  The annual Harvest Ball was going to be held that Friday on November 4th.  Blair was agonizing over what to wear when the twins, who had just gotten home from school, walked into her dressing room.  "Mother we need... What in the world are you doing?"


    "Oh, hi kids.  I''m trying to figure out what to wear Friday.  It''s a formal occasion, but I can''t look TOO formal since it''s also part of the Harvest Festival.  Frankly it has me stumped."


    Yoko nodded her understanding.  "I see.  Sorta like something that ya could imagine someone in a rural town might wear when they''re dressing in the best they have but don''t have access ta the same materials and such that we do.  Is that right?"


    "Exactly dear.  I''m sure that I have something that will do, and I don''t want to waste money by buying something just for the one night when I already have so many clothes I hardly ever wear.  Even so, I''m really not sure what to choose."


    The twins didn''t even need to speak to each other, they just walked to their mother, then each took one of her hands.  They pulled her over to a chair and gently pushed her into it.


    Blair looked at them, at first with puzzlement, then suspicion when she saw them smirking.  "All right you devils-in-training, what''s on your sneaky little minds?"


    They decided to forego the "Who us?" ploy.  Their mother really disliked that, unless she was the one doing it.


    "Mother...you know, sometimes you are absolutely no fun, at all."


    "I suppose you''re right Biki, but just get on with it will you.  I have a meeting with Manda and Akane in less than two hours."


    "Oh, all right.  You win...this time.  The answer to your problem is simple.  Jason."


    "What''s that supposed to mean?  I...ah...I....  Oh."  Blair felt her forehead as if she were checking her temperature.  "No, I don''t have a fever.  There goes my best excuse for not seeing the obvious.  Darn.  I guess I''ll just have to go with the truth.  I simply never thought of it."


    She mock-glared at the twins.  "It''s not that the truth is bad or anything, far from it, but in my line of work we tend to avoid it as a matter of course."


    They giggled, she smiled.  "Can you bring him over after school tomorrow?"


    Hibiki flipped open her mental calendar.  "Yes. No clients scheduled tomorrow.  In fact the only thing we are down for is a study session for the history exam on Thursday."


    Blair started to interrupt to protest them "working" on a study day, but Yoko jumped in.  "Not ta worry.  With me helping them it''s not gonna to take all that much time, so we can do it as late as Wednesday.  I''ve pretty much scoped out what the questions will be.  We''ve just gotta focus on those, so it''ll probably only take a couple hours."


    Her grin turned sly.  "But, as ya were about ta point out, we ARE gonna be makin'' a special accomodation for ya, so we''re gonna have ta charge ya 20% more than usual."


    Blair jumped up and pointed an accusing finger at them.  "You''re not my daughters.  You''re fiends who''ve possessed their bodies!"


    She shouted triumphantly, "But I know how to deal with your kind!"  She grabbed a pillow and began to chase the now shrieking girls around her dressing room and bedroom, whacking them soundly on the bottom whenever one of them came within reach.


    They rarely had time to play together.  Consequently they had a grand time and kept running around until they had to stop due to exhaustion.  Then it was off to the bath to clean up.  When they had finished soaking, the twins did their mother''s hair after which it was hugs all around before Blair hurried off to get dressed and head out to her meeting.


    The "meeting" was, in reality, an excuse for the three of them to get together, have a late-afternoon tea, and relax before resuming their various duties.  In passing Blair happened to mention that the twins had suggested Jason as the solution to her "what to wear for the Harvest Ball problem."  Immediately thereafter there were two, soft thunks as both Miranda and Akane thwacked themselves in the forehead with their palms -- followed by chagrined looks.


    Blair grinned at them.  "Don''t feel so bad.  It was the twins who reminded me.   I didn''t think of it either.  It''s probably because they''ve not done it with anyone over age 18 thus far, but a talent like that ought to work with anyone, don''t you think?"


    Akane nodded.  "I''d think so.  I don''t know for sure though.  Jason isn''t the kind of person to volunteer to help when he''s not asked and the situation isn''t an emergency.  It''s one of his true strong points.  Unasked for advice is probably resented more than anything else in the entire world."


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Miranda took a sip of tea.  "You may be exaggerating somewhat Akane."  She took another sip.  This particular blend was especially good, and she made a mental note to order some.


    Blair chimed in, "Maybe so Manda, but not very much."


    Miranda nodded her agreement.  "So when can we get it done?  We don''t have a lot of time."


    "I''ll have to ask, but maybe tomorrow?  I''m on their ''schedule'' for after school and I''m pretty sure that they don''t have anything else planned."


    Miranda contrived to look thoughtful, but her voice was devilish,  "Are you absolutely sure?  You know how flexible children are.  Since they won''t be studying, they just might have adjusted their plans so that after helping you they could get in some constructive cuddling."


    Both Blair and Akane jerked upright, but, barely, avoided spit-takes.  It was a struggle, but neither of them started laughing before they swallowed.


    Akane forbore mentioning that Jason had confided in her about their plans to forego sex until they were "of a proper age."  What she did say was, "I''m sure that they''ll survive if that is indeed what they planned.  For kids being hit with their first hormone overload, they''ve the most control I''ve ever seen."


    She took a sip of tea.  "And I''ve seen a lot of hormonal teens over the years.  I may teach at Ingvold, but hormones hit everyone, even the studious types.  I have no worries about these three losing control."


    Blair nodded.  "Indeed. In this particular case, I think you''re right."


    She nodded at Manda with a sense of relief.  "I don''t think we''re going to have the, ah, urgency that we did with Sara and Paolo."


    Miranda rubbed her hands together.  "Good.  It''s so much more fun watching them squirm before they get married.  It was only a few weeks with those two, and I''m feeling deprived.  With yours I can be entertained by the whole process.


    "Speaking of which, I haven''t heard a hint of Kaho being interested in someone.  Is anything going on there?"


    Akane leaned forward and whispered, "I want your promise of absolute secrecy about this.  It''s important, and I may eventually need your support."


    Both of them gestured agreement.  It seemed that the time for teasing was over.


    "All right. It''s like this.  You know that Kaho rarely wears anything at home.  I gave up on trying to change that by the time she was nine.


    "You also know how Jason is.  He comes to me with almost everything he has a question about .  He still doesn''t understand some of the social constraints concerning what is and isn''t ''proper'' to discuss.


    "Anyway, this past August one of Kaho''s friends, who was two years behind her, came over to study almost every day.  She was having problems with two of her classes, or so Kaho said.  I checked after Jason talked to me, and that part was true.


    "Well, what he told me was that at first this friend, whom I won''t name right now, seemed rather put off by Kaho stripping as soon as she got into her room."


    Akane paused for some tea as her throat was drying some.  "You''ll remember that August was particularly hot this year?"


    Blair and Manda nodded, so Akane went on, "Jason said that after a few days Kaho''s friend gave in to the heat and over the following week gradually took off more and more of her clothes too.


    "He wasn''t peeking.  Kaho always leaves the door open part way to get some air circulating and you can get glimpses of what''s going on when you walk by.


    "Cutting to the chase, he says that one day he heard Kaho say something like: ''That should do it.  You''re caught up.  If you keep at it you should be fine from here on.''  That was when it happened.


    "Kaho''s friend leaned over the table and kissed her.  Jason said that Kaho looked startled and surprised, but then she put her arms around the other girl''s neck and kissed her back.  That was when Kaho noticed Jason and waved him to close the door.  He did, and that was that, mostly.


    "Kaho''s ''friend'' came over at least twice a week for the next two months.  Kaho says that she was still helping her study, and Jason confirmed that they did study, at least for a while.  After that he doesn''t know as Kaho always closed the door at some point.


    "I''m sure you can guess what he asked me, but I''ll tell you anyway.  What he said was, ''Mother, I understand what kissing is.  Yoko, Hibiki and I do that, but I didn''t know that two girls would do that to each other.  Why do they do it?''"


    Blair nodded understanding, and Miranda asked, "What did you tell him?"


    "I told him that they do it for the same reason that he and the twins do, because they care for each other.  I also told him that sometime two boys are the same way.  After that I told him that he was never, ever to talk to anyone else about what he''d just told me.  Of course I had to explain why, but I think he understood."


    Akane smiled fondly.  "He''s a good boy, and he has a big heart.  Because of the way he is, he can look at relationships much more objectively that most people."


    Manda nodded.  "There''s a certain beauty in that.  Of course it''s a good thing you told him not to say anything.  If the wrong people heard of it there could be problems.  You''d think that in this modern age people would have outgrown their stupid prejudices about who should and should not love someone.


    "It''s not like you choose who you fall in love with."


    Akane interjected, "How true."  Then she stood.  "It''s about time for us to get back to our other worlds.  See you all tomorrow afternoon?


    Blair nodded and Miranda added, "I''ll be there.  And if you don''t mind, I''d like to bring Mimi with me.  I''ve never known her to make a wrong choice when it comes to clothes and such.  It''ll be interesting to see if she and Jason disagree on anything."


    "Sure, bring her too.  It may be a little crowded, but we can open the connecting door to the bedroom and use both rooms if we need to.  After we''re done with me we can all troop over to your homes and get you taken care of."


    With that they stood and left.  No long goodbyes.  That was one thing they had in common.  When they were finished with something, they were finished and started on whatever was next.  It''s surprising how much extra time they gained from doing so, and, given how much they needed to do, they could use every minute they could get.

 Vol 2 - Ch 20 The Harvest Ball

    The Year 723 After the Founding, Friday, November 4th


    The Harvest Ball was one of the major social events of the year.  All of the movers and shakers were invited and every noble living in town, or within several day''s ride, was present, whether or not they had received an invitation.  Among all the costumes, ranging from somewhat tasteful to extraordinarily, eye-dazzlingly flamboyant, there were three who stood out.  It wasn''t that they were the most extraordinary, far from it.  However anyone who saw them invariably stopped for a moment and thought essentially the same thing, "Oh my god.  They look like they were born to wear those clothes."  On top of that their hair was perfectly coordinated with their outfits.  If it weren''t that leaving suddenly would have destroyed their reputations, a number of women attending would have fled in tears after comparing what they saw to what they were wearing.


    A few sniffed and thought to themselves that while the outfits, and their accessories, were perfectly coordinated, they obviously weren''t of the highest quality, such as what they were wearing.  That rationalization lasted a few minutes.  That was when Duchess Henrietta appeared in a similarly tasteful, and perfectly matched costume.  Again it clearly wasn''t made of the highest quality fabric, nor was she wearing the most flashy jewelry.  However, everything from her shoes to her hair matched her to perfection.


    Those still grasping at straws jumped on the fact that the husband of one of the first three women was clearly somewhat ill at ease.  Their feelings of superiority climbed higher when someone identified him as a mere patisserie, albeit the most prominent and successful one in town.   Their "I am a superior being" attitude was again shot down when it was noted that both Hiroshi Macklin and the Donetti brothers, Robert and Richard, were spending much of their time with him.  It was astonishing.  The most prominent banker in The City, and two of his partners, associating with a mere cook?  Whatever could be going on?


    One onlooker, who sidled close enough to eavesdrop on the conversation, eventually circulated back to her friends.  "I don''t believe it.  Well, yes I guess I do because I was there, but still...."


    After several "get on with it" remarks from her friends, she said, "They were asking him for financial advice!  Apparently they''re planning on offering a new service, one that will primarily be concerned with extending loans to already successful businesses that want to expand.  This Sebastian Fukui was explaining how to tell if the business plan being proposed was reasonable or just someone with more ambition than ability. Since he already has five stores in The City, it was obvious even to me that he knows what he''s talking about.  It even sounded as if they might take him on as a permanent consultant if their other partners agree, and let me tell you I''d dearly love to know who those silent partners are.  I''ve been trying to find out for almost eight years and haven''t had even a smidgeon of luck.  Have you?"


    After all of them shook their heads "no," the biddies, um...ladies, turned their attention back to Blair, Miranda, and Akane, this time with speculation in their eyes rather than contempt.  Their level of shock hit maximum when they found that those they sought were now chatting with Duchess Henrietta as if they were old friends, even the Fukui woman.


    Something unnatural was going on.  A duchess doesn''t talk to commoners for more than 20 seconds except in two situations.  The first was when they were childhood friends.  The second was when said commoner had done the duchess a major favor of some kind and was receiving the attention as repayment.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.    They knew that they weren''t old friends.  Oh, yes, the Donetti and Macklin women had been around in the background for several years, presumably because of their husbands'' prominence, so there might be some sort of legitimate reason for the Duchess to speak to them.  However, after talking amongst themselves, they determined that the Fukui woman had never been to one of the Duchess'' affairs before.


    That left the second option.  One of them had done the Duchess a favor, and, given that it was the Fukui woman''s first time there, there couldn''t be but one answer as to who.  Then the question arose: What was it that she''d done?


    Now, you must understand that these women were not stupid.  They were anything but. However they were set in their ways (more like frozen in concrete if you ask me), and had much too high an opinion of themselves.  Finally they overrode their "innate" conservatism and arrived at the proper answer.  What linked them was the perfection of their outfits.


    There HAD to be a new stylist in town.  The few ladies present who had been At Court finally admitted that what they were seeing here today showed skill far beyond what they''d seen in Milan or Rome.  That led them to the conclusion that Duchess Henrietta had wanted them to reach.


    If they also had access to such a stylist, should they be at an event in a major city or At Court again, their status would be siginficantly, and profitably, boosted, the latter being directly linked to the former.  Instead of the usual machinations women such as they involved themselves in at a ball, they spent the rest of their evening trying to figure out how to approach Akane and worm the identity of this new stylist out of her.


    By the end of the evening Miranda and Blair were working very hard not to laugh out loud at the several clusters of overly-dressed women scattered around the room, whose members were episodically peering at them, then turning back to their huddles and whispering to each other again.


    Akane has been rather nervous about meeting the Duchess, but Henrietta had opened the conversation with fond remarks about Kaho''s excellent performance in the City Exams two years earlier, which had led to Akane''s nervousness being overwritten by parental pride.  When Henrietta learned that Akane was a history professor at Ingvold, she positively beamed.


    Her time was rarely her own, being almost entirely occupied by official duties which rarely allowed her outside The City''s walls.  But, no matter where she was, there was usually at least a modicum of time for her to read, so read she did.  Growing up she''d become at first mildy interested, and finally a voracious reader of history.  It all thrilled her.  From reading about ancient battles, to histories of mercantile wars, and thence on to the writings of those who had explored and opened trade routes across the world.  It was all enthralling.


    She became even more excited when she learned that one of the twins who had helped her with her hair and her outfit, the one called "Yoko," was as ardent about history as were she and Akane.  Then and there she arranged for Akane and Yoko to visit regularly, ostensibly to help with clothing, but in actuality to give her someone to talk to about something not related to work.


    ----------------


    Ptica stopped the playback, "It must be said that, at first, once the other faculty at Ingvold inevitably learned that Akane was regularly visiting the Ducal Residence, there was some jealous grumbling.  That soon stopped when the headmaster revealed that the Duchess had, at Akane''s request, agreed to fund several long-stalled research projects of various faculty members.


    "While it''s true that the Duchess arranged for their projects to be funded, it should be made clear that she didn''t spend a single grosso of her own money.  What she used was tax money that, by law, had for several decades been budgeted for "culturally relevant projects."  She''d despaired of figuring out what the heck the phrase meant, as apparently had several of her predecessors, given that the amount of money currently being held in that particular account was huge.


    "After consulting with her advisors, and being assurred that funding local scholars, and thus, in the long run enhancing the reputation of The City, was clearly "culturally relevant," she not only funded the research at Ingvold, but, over the next year....


    "What?!  Oh....all right.... I guess I must agree with you, it''s not relevant to this class.  If you''re interested, come talk to me about it later."

 Vol 2 - Ch 21 Danger Will Robinson!

    The twins and Jason were treated to quite a feast in the kitchen of The Residence that night.  The staff didn''t know exactly what had happened, but when the Duchess'' private secretary brings three children to you and says, "The Duchess is extremely pleased with the service they''ve provided her this night.  Take good care of them," you hop to it and do exactly that.


    It didn''t hurt a bit that they were well mannered, even though the boy Jason seemed a bit stiff and uncomfortable.  Having seen a goodly number of people overwhelmed by the Duchess, they just wrote off his slightly odd behavior as being a case of nerves.  After a while all three of them were chatting with the staff as if they were old friends.  From that point on they felt like they were having their own, private Harvest Ball, and even the staff had a good time.


    What with the crowd, fatigue, and a tad of confusion resulting from having over-eaten, (yes, we''ll call it only that, shall we?)  their parents completely forgot to seek out the children when they left.  It was about half an hour after that when the major-domo swept into the kitchen and sent the staff off to help clean things up.


    He spoke rather brusquely, "It''s time for you children to go home.  The Duchess appreciates what you''ve done for her.  You have my thanks as well.  Now, goodbye."  With that he swept back out the door to oversee things in the great hall.  The kids let themselves out the kitchen door, then headed toward the main gate.  Once on the street they noticed that it was nearly deserted.  It had to be much later than they''d thought.


    Jason looked up at the stars.  "My gosh.  It''s after midnight.  We''d better hurry."


    There was one stretch of road where two of the night-lamps had somehow been extinguished.  Naturally that was where they were attacked.


    Five young men, nobles by their dress, and probably somewhere between the ages of 18 and 20, were headed in the opposite direction.  They spread out in front of the children and their leader slurred, "Watcha got there m''lad?  Two wenches?  You''re far, far too immu...imma....young to know how to take proper care of both of them.  I ''spect we ''cun show you how it''s done."


    There was no time to try to talk them out of it, nor a way to escape as, while the leader had been talking, one of the group had slipped behind the trio and blocked that direction.


    All five of the them were more than somewhat drunk, more than unusually arrogant, and thus overconfident.  The fight lasted all of nine seconds.  Hibiki didn''t pull her blows as she had long ago at her first week at Chapman.  Her two precisely placed kicks broke the legs of the two immediately in front of her.


    Jason, while never as devoted to the art as Hibiki or Eugenia, still easily disposed of two more, breaking the right arm of the first in two places, and several ribs on the second.  With their opponents lying on the ground groaning, they spun around seeking number five.  What they saw was Yoko standing over the unconscious body of the last one, with a potted plant in her hands.


    There hadn''t been much noise, and, thus far, nobody seemed to have noticed anything.  The trio had a hurried conversation in "twin" and quickly abandoned the area.  They didn''t sprint, that would have attracted attention, both from any passers-by and from Blair if they arrived home panting.


    What they did was walk briskly, as if they were hurrying home and worried about having stayed out past their curfew.


    While their footsteps were nearly silent, their conversation was anything but, "Yoko!  I thought you HATED fighting.  I don''t think I ever saw you at class with daddy."


    There was deep pain in Yoko''s voice as she answered, "You''re right Biki, I do hate fighting, more than just about anything else in the world.  BUT, when you have no other choice but ta fight or let your loved ones be hurt, well, in my opinion, anyone who won''t fight when the people they love are in danger doesn''t deserve anything but contempt.


    "Besides  that one I put down had pulled out a knife.  I surely wasn''t about ta let him stab one of you just because I despise fighting."


    "Oh, I see.  Thank you.  Are you or Jason hurt at all?"


    "I''m fine Biki.  Jason?"


    His reply was in the detached tone he used when he was emotionally overwhelmed, "No. I''m fine too.  I think my wrist will be a bit sore for a day or two, but that''s all."


    Hibiki heaved a sigh of relief.  "That is good.  I do not know how we would explain anything that our parents would notice, and we certainly cannot tell them what just happened.  All hell would break out if we did."


    Jason, rightfully, sounded puzzled, "Why would you say that?  They attacked US.  We just defended ourselves."


    "That is true dear, but there is one thing you do not know.  The one Yoko bashed over the head is Liam, the son of Baron Laroan.  I heard some of the older girls talking about him a while back, and none of it was anything but bad.  He is a real rotter.  I think it is highly likely that he has already raped a number of girls and had his father cover it up.  After all they were ''just commoners''.


    "Frankly Yoko, the world would be a better place if you had managed to kill him."


    Hibiki cocked her head to the side.  "Which you may have.  His breathing was not all that good when we left."


    She directed a steely look at her twin.  "Does it bother you that I feel that way?"


    "I can''t say that I''d be happy about it, it''s not the way I''m put together, but I don''t regret what I did either.  I didn''t know of his personality, and even if I had, I wouldn''t have hit him any harder.  All that matters is that he was going ta try to kill at least one of you, maybe both.  I didn''t, and still don''t, need ta know more than that."


    A few minutes later they arrived home and prevented an incipient scolding for staying out so late by reminding Blair that it was she who had forgotten to come get them when she left.


    Jason, said his goodbye''s and ambled off.  Once he was out of view, he sprinted the rest of the way home.  The girls were wrong.  Someone needed to know what had happened, and he knew who.


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    He got home, used the same excuse that the girls had, was forgiven, then said, "Mother, something important has come up. I need to speak to Mrs. Donetti, right now."


    His father''s voice made its way past Akane, "This late?  Are you absolutely sure?"


    "Yes Father, I am.  Please excuse me."


    Before either of his parents could say anything else, he ran off, leaving his mother to decide just how much it was safe to tell his father about what they were involved in and why Jason would want to speak to Miranda rather than them.  Upon his arrival at the Donetti''s house, Mimi answered the door, looked him up and down, somehow taking in everything in that once glance and said, "The family parlor."


    Jason had to wait only a couple of minutes before Miranda swept in, wearing a simple but voluminous dressing gown.  She also gave Jason a once-over then murmured, "This should be interesting, sit."


    After waiting for Miranda to seat herself, Jason did likewise then said, "You might as well show yourself Genie. I can feel you."


    "Oh, darn. You''re no fun Jason."   Eugenia popped into sight and sat herself on the nearest chair.


    Miranda limited herself to a "why me" look at the ceiling before she commanded Jason, "Report."


    Once he''d finished, Genie whistled softly.  Miranda grew still and thoughtful.  Momentarily she asked, "Jason, why did you come to me with this information, especially after Hibiki warned you who was involved?  Please be concise.  Just list things with numbers.  That way it should be easier for you to stick to the facts and avoid going off on a tangent."


    "Yes ma''am.  That ought to work. Nobody told me that way of doing things before.


    "1) The one Yoko hit was a baron''s son.  He wasn''t the leader.  Knowing how arrogant nobles can be sometimes, that means that one of the others had to be either more powerful or meaner than he is, or was, depending on whether or not he dies.


    "2) It was dark what with the night-lamps having burned out, but even though they probably couldn''t see our faces, they probably could see how tall we are, and if they aren''t too hung over to remember us, a smart person might be able to reason out who were are anyway.  Even with several hundred trios in town, I haven''t seen any others as young as we are.  It should be fairly easy to track us down if you had someone check to see who might have been out that late and coming from the direction of The Residence, and at least one of them surely will have the resources to do it.


    "3) If they DO figure out who we are, we''re going to be in a great deal of trouble, if not at risk for our lives.  People like those don''t hesitate to have someone they don''t like murdered, especially if they''re the ones who are likely to get put in jail if it goes to court.


    "4) Considering that you''re the Duchess'' spymaster, you''re supposed to know everything that happens in town that''s important, and probably a lot of things that don''t seem to be important that may be later on. This is important.  I already know how smart you are, so you probably do know almost everything else that''s happening.


    "Uh, I think that''s everything."


    Eugenia whistled again, this time in admiration.  "Way to go almost co-brother-in-law.  Unfortunately you''re probably right."  She turned to Miranda.  "So Mother, what are we going to do?"


    Miranda assumed her favored thinking posture, with her fingers steepled.  "First of all, tell me where you got this strange idea that I''m a spy for the Duchess?"


    Jason almost snorted in exasperation, then realized that he was talking to an important adult, who tended to be on the formal side in her behaviors.  He managed to convert the snort into a cough.  It didn''t fool anyone, but it satisfied propriety, and Miranda let it slide.      "Please excuse me ma''am but can I just say it fast-like without being too formal with my words?"


    Seeing Miranda nod, he smiled his thanks.


    "You were there when we set up the trap for Avellino.  You were there when he was interrogated.  No way in heck would someone who was ''only'' a banker''s wife have even known that anything was going on at all.  You obviously knew right away who Avi was when Yoko showed you her drawing of him, but it was Mr. Macklin who ran things, which means that he outranks you.  Also, every time I''ve see you all together and someone asks a question about what''s going on in The City, most of the time you''re the one who answers.  If it''s about something somewhere else in Italy Mrs. Macklin does, and if it''s outside the country, Mr. Macklin does.


    "Also, a while back Genie mentioned that you almost never leave town any more, like you did when she was little.  Back then you went out of town on vacation or business fairly regularly.  The logical conclusion is that there''s now something tying you down here.  Since you''re not a twin, logic also says that you can''t leave because you''re doing something important that needs constant attention.


    "And you know the Duchess personally, not just because of your husband.


    "Putting that all together with everything else I''ve seen, you have to be her spymaster."


    He paused for a few seconds.  "Now that I think of it, Mrs. Macklin probably is in charge of the same for the rest of the country and Mr. Macklin for everywhere else.  Either that or they know the people who are."


    He stopped ticking things off on his fingers and looked up at her.  "Is that a satisfactory answer Mrs. Donetti?"


    Eugenia desperately wanted to tell her mother, "I told you so!" but she didn''t dare just then.  Miranda was far too upset.


    "Yes Jason, I believe that your answer was more than adequate.  Unfortunately for me, it raises several other questions. Who else might have noticed the same things you have and put it all together?  If they have, how do I find out who did and when?  If nobody has, what do I do to prevent it from happening at some time in the future?"


    She waved her hand to stop Jason.  "No, you don''t need to answer.  Those questions were aimed at me, not at you.  It''s something for Blair, Hiroshi, and I to deal with, though I must thank you for bringing it up.


    "For now let''s return to your situation.  It''s not possible to walk if your shinbone is broken. With two of your attackers having broken legs, someone will have had to carry them away, and surely Liam as well.  That means the Guard or the militia, which means that there''s been some sort of report.  I''ll talk to Robert and see if he can arrange to meet with Captain Murray early tomorrow.  No, it''s after midnight, make that early today.  I''ll slip in during the meeting and let him know what really happened.   For right now I do nothing except go to bed and try to sleep.  Lord knows I may not get much the next few nights.


    Jason stood intending to apologize for causing so much trouble.  Miranda beat him to it.  "No Jason. You are NOT responsible for anything that went wrong tonight.  Not one single thing.  Never apologize for something that''s not your fault.  No, strike that, sometimes it''s politically necessary, but normally not.  Ask your mother to explain later, OK?"


    Jason nodded his incomprehension and agreement all at once.  He definitely needed to talk to his mother about that.


    Eugenia stood.  "I think I''d best see if I can milk some information from my other friends later today.  One of them in particular is a horrible gossip.  If anything anywhere is going on or has gone on, she always has at least some information about it.  She often gets the details wrong, but she''s almost never wrong when she says that something did or did not happen."


    She grinned at her mother. "If she were able to keep her mouth shut, she''d make a great source for you."


    Genie turned. "I''ll walk you to the door Jason."


    She escorted him to the front door, and added in "twin,"  "Whatever you do, make sure that Biki doesn''t start carrying a knife.  I know she knows how to use one, but if something public happens because of this incident, and she''s found carrying one, claiming self-defense could get muddied up by a good lawyer.  Yes, I know it''s not right, but right isn''t always what happens.  Surely you know that by now."


    Jason sighed.  "I''m afraid that I do."


    He surprised both of them by giving her a hug.  "Thanks almost co-sister-in-law.  See you later."


    He turned and trotted toward home.  He''d have to explain things to his parents, but first he''d have to sort out just how much it was safe to tell them, even his mother.

 Vol 2 - Ch 22

    Either the gods were smiling on them, or maybe they just had exceptional luck the next morning.  At the meeting with Captain Murray, Miranda discovered that those injured in the previous night''s assault were all still in the Guard''s infirmary.  Liam and the "friend" whose ribs Jason had broken, were likely to stay there for some time, and possibly all three of the others.  It was still too early to be sure.


    Consequently, Miranda was able to arrange for Jason to accompany the Captain to his interrogation.  The first thing the Captain discovered was that all four who were conscious were badly hung over.  The story that gradually emerged morphed substantially as it was related by first one then another of the injured.  Initially there were three attackers, then seven and finally 10 who had set upon them without provocation.  Upon further questioning, with a number of variations of "are you sure?" all four eventually swore on the graves of their great-grandfathers that every word was true.


    At that point Captain Murray excused himself, "So as not to tire you gentlemen overly much," with a promise to return should they remember any new details.  After closing the door he marched nine paces down the hall and entered the small room where Jason waited.


    "Well?"


    "Yessir.  At the end there they''d all convinced themselves that what they told you was the absolute truth.  Or rather, three of them had.  The other was unsure, sorta like something didn''t add up completely I guess.  I could feel him doubting what the others said at first, but he was also very ashamed about something, I think that he was so drunk.  I also got the feeling that he felt  incredibly guilty but couldn''t remember why.  One thing that was very clear was that he was absolutely determined to never, ever drink so much again.  He''s feeling horribly sick, and I''m pretty sure that he doubts his memory, since it was his first time drinking like that.  That''s why he went along with the others.  He was feeling better when they settled on a story.  I''m just guessing, but it felt like he was relieved that things hadn''t ended up even worse than they did."


    Jason looked up at the Captain.  "Does that help any sir?"


    "Indeed it does my boy.  One other question though, can you tell me which one it was who was feeling guilty?"


    "Oh, it was the one whose ribs I broke.  Is he going to be all right?  I feel sorta bad now that I know he didn''t really mean to harm us."


    "You shouldn''t boy.  Lots of people feel bad about having done bad things, sometimes truly awful things, when they''re caught out.  Stopping them before they can do anything is best, just as you three did last night.  And sometimes, like I hope with this one, we can help them straighten themselves out.  We may find out that, in the long run, what you did will keep him from ruining his life.  "That''s surely preferable to jail.  He becomes a useful citizen, and we don''t have to pay to guard and feed him."


    He chuckled somewhat at his own wit, inviting Jason to join him, which he did, if belatedly.


    Then the Captain''s voice sobered, "As for the others though... Well, let''s just say that we already know them much better than we''d like.


    " Unfortunately I have to agree with what you told Miranda.  If we were to try to charge them with attempted rape and assault, we''d probably be opening a can of snakes rather than a can of worms.  It''ll also be safer for you three if nobody knows what you can do if you need to defend yourselves."


    He patted Jason on the shoulder.  "You showed clear thinking in a time of extreme stress, and reported the facts just like a good detective would.  You might consider a career in that field.  If you''re not so inclined, your abilities could be extremely helpful were you to work with the Guard as a, oh I guess the word I want is ''consultant''.  You''ve already shown that you can be discreet.  We value that.  You''re still too young to decide on a life path yet, but I wanted to put a word in, just in case.  If you want to talk to me again, let Miranda know and we''ll arrange it.


    "Now you''d better get going.  I''ll have Sargeant Rivers show you out our special back door.  And don''t worry.  You can trust her without question.  I do, but then she''s my twin and I know she''d never betray anyone.  For now at least you''ll just have to take my word on it.


    Jason stammered, "Yessir. Of course I will sir.  I''ll be going and getting out of your way sir."


    Captain Murray gave him a friendly clout on the back.  "On your way then.  I expect that our paths will cross again, probably fairly often given your talents.  Take care."


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    He turned and marched down the hall to the right.  The Sergeant had been waiting outside the door and led Jason to a narrow door that blended into the rock of the passage if you saw it from more than two or three meters away.  She opened it just enough for Jason to squeeze through.  "Fare thee well youngling.  Gods watch over you."


    "Thank you Sergeant.  Goodbye."


    Jason slipped out the door and found himself in shadows at the end of a blind alley that jutted off a street he knew well.  On the way back to report to Miranda he filled the twins in on what had happened.  They were both relieved to know that there was nothing tying them to the fight.  Yoko however did ask what Liam''s condition was.


    "You know dear one, I don''t know.  It seemed like every time I was about to ask, Captain Murray asked me something first."


    "Thank you dear.  That''s all I really need to know.  He''s not expected to survive, or at least not to be able to return to his previously depraved life.  At least I hope so.  Now if you don''t mind, I''d like to be private for a while.  I need to try to make myself forget him."


    Once Yoko had withdrawn from the link, HIbiki contacted Jason on their personal "channel."   "She is in a lot more pain than she is letting on.  I tell you truly that she believes to the depths of her soul what she said about defending loved ones last night.  I also tell you true that doing it hurt her more than I had imagined at first.  We are going to need to give her a lot of emotional support, probably for quite some time.


    "I must admit that I am not completely sure how to do that. I have never had to deal with something this intense before, but I am sure that we can figure things out by watching her feelings a bit more carefully.


    "I expect that what I shall need to do is just be close to her as much as possible."


    Jason could tell that she was suddenly wearing her sensual grin.  "You on the other hand will probably need to spend more time petting her and kissing her.  Otherwise she may think that you are disgusted by what she did.  I KNOW her.  We can talk to her till the cows come home and it will not  penetrate.  She is going to need physical demonstrations that you still care for her.


    "Worry not.  I shall be perfectly content to play guard for you two as much as is necessary."


    Jason could swear that he could FEEL Hibiki purring when she added, "I shall be sure to have you make up for the extra time you spend with her.  I am sure I will be able to think of something by the time she is feeling better about herself.  If you will, consider it a promise."


    ----------------


    Ptica banged on the lectern, "All right class.  You can stop your snickering.  At least I assume that''s what all of you are doing, that or your species'' equivalent.  All I''m going to say is that Hibiki was a very honest girl.  She always kept her promises, including that one.  There is however absolutely no way in the world that I''m going to tell you what she did.  Oh, and don''t bother trying to hack into the server and look at the files.  We deleted and overwrote that particular one several decades ago.  Even if it did happen over a thousand years in the past, some things should remain private forever."


    ----------------


    "All right Biki, I know that grin.  You were just saying something sexy ta Jason on your private channel."


    "Of course I was Yoko.  You heard him.  He has just now left after the Captain finished interrogated those scum.  Or so he had thought.  What he found out was that one was not really scum at all, just someone who had made a mistake.  It was a serious one, but a mistake rather than a deliberate act.  Naturally it had to be one of the ones he took out.  Jason is feeling guilty.   It is silly, but there you are.


    "I do not understand why people feel guilty when they have done what they had to to protect themselves and there was no other choice at all, unless it was roll over and let them kill you.  I doubt that I shall ever understand that, but I did what I could. Since I cannot help him overcome his negative feelings, I gave him something to think about besides himself."


    She looked at Yoko pointedly.  "That means you sister mine.  You know as well as I do that he is extremely stubborn sometimes, so you are going to have to show him physically that you are not mad at him and that you do not think he did anything awful.


    "So get ready for lots of hugs and kisses.


    "I have it on the best authority that you enjoy it just as much as I do.  I shall even stand guard for you two while you prove how you feel to him, no matter how many days or weeks it takes.  I will  want equal time later on, but I can be patient."


    Biki leered at her sister.  "Besides, they say that hunger is the best sauce, and I am quite certain that by the time you have him feeling better I will be very hungry."


    Yoko stood and put her hand on Hibiki''s chest.  Her ears hadn''t deceived her.  Biki was purring.  In fact it was strong enough that it was making both of their bodies vibrate.   She had no idea how she did it.  Yoko couldn''t purr no matter how hard she''d tried when they were little.  She''d come to accept it as just one of those unexplainable things.


    What she could do was understand that Biki had been right about Jason.  He was going to need reassurance, and she was also right that he responded best to touch.  Maybe it was for the best that she couldn''t purr after all.  If she could, Biki would have an insufferable grin on her face when she heard how Yoko was responding to her suggestion about soothing Jason with hugs and kisses.


    "I''m going downstairs and get a drink.  I''ll be back up in a bit."


    Hibiki grinned at Yoko''s retreating back.  Excellent.  She''d hooked both of them.  They''d help each other through their healing process, something that she couldn''t do.  She shrugged her shoulders.  That''s why they were a team.  Each had their own strengths and weaknesses.  Together though, they were going to be unstoppable.

 Vol 2 - Ch 23 New Beginnings

    Sunday, May 07, In The Year 724 After the Founding Approximately 4:40 p.m.


    Mario presented himself to the front door of the Donetti domicile. He had retrieved his second best outfit from storage. It was the one he wore when meeting a new client he wanted to impress but didn''t want to give the impression that he was rich and thus a good candidate for being fleeced. If one were to characterize it, one might call it tasteful and of moderately high quality but not flashy.


    As always, whether by inborn radar or perhaps by peeping out of a window, Mimi opened the door just before he could knock. He smiled, greeted her, and offered his hat to be hung on a peg by the door. In families like this you didn''t hang up your own things. It would mark you as a peasant.


    He was led to the family parlor where he was greeted only by Miranda. She looked him over then murmured, "A good choice." She waved him to a seat then turned to Mimi and said, "Proceed." Mario had no idea what was proceeding when Mimi left, but his curiosity was satisfied moments later when Stavros and Consuela descended upon the room.


    It appeared that they were arguing about something, as their faces were flushed and Mario had heard raised voices approaching. All that stopped instantly when they beheld him sitting on the settee. The gaze directed at him by these children, who were obviously twins, was more than a little unsettling. There was a stranger, and he was in the FAMILY parlor not the one used by guests. It was like they were puppies trying to decide if he was a new toy or something to be barked at and chased away.


    They were brought to heel by Miranda saying calmly, in a toneless voice, "How interesting. It appears that you two will need some further instruction in proper manners in the near future."


    Upon hearing their mother, the twins recoiled as if they''d suddenly noticed a viper in the room. The boy was the first to speak, "I beg your pardon sir. I''m Stavros Donetti. This is my younger twin Consuela. We''re pleased to make your acquanitance."


    Stavros bowed, Consuela curtsied, then both of them darted looks from the corners of their eyes at their mother.


    Miranda nodded, slightly. "Acceptable."


    She squared her shoulders. "Now let me make you acquainted with Senior Journeyman Mario Brown. I''ve known him for, what is it now, over four years, I think. Is that right Mario?"


    Mario smiled, "Indeed yes Mrs. Donetti. It will be five years in September." Mario snorted internally. "Over four years" my foot. She could probably tell him not only the day of the week they''d met, but the hour as well.


    He felt more than heard the faintest rustling of a skirt just outside the door, but when he looked, he saw nothing. It appeared that Eugenia had arrived as well.


    Moments later a tall, squarely built man who was dressed impeccably, but still casually, walked into the room. He opened his mouth to speak, then, catching sight of Mario, who had jumped to his feet, looked at Miranda and raised an eyebrow. He had obviously not been expecting to see Mario in the room.


    Mario darted an accusing look at Miranda who merely smiled back at him blandly. Wonderful.... He was on his own. Mario bowed. "I''m pleased to meet you Mr. Donetti. I''m Senior Journeyman Mario Brown. I''m grateful for this opportunity to meet you and your younger children. I trust that my accepting your wife''s kind invitation to dine with you has not interfered with your plans for the evening. I understand that Sara and Paolo are dining with her parents today?"


    He smiled as much at Miranda as at Robert, in essence saying, "HAH. You''re not going to stick me with this. The ball''s in your court now."


    Recognizing Mario''s message, Robert turned back to his conniving wife and also smiled, inviting her to confess. Before she could say anything Eugenia entered the room and announced her presence, "Ah. Mario. I trust you had no trouble finding the house?"


    As he was still standing Mario turned toward Genie. "Not at all Eugenia. Not at all. I''m happy to see you again."


    Robert was not pleased. There was clearly something going on between this Mario and his daughter. Both his wife and daughter had blindsided him, obviously planning on presenting him with a fait accompli. It was also clear that they hadn''t told Mario what they were up to either. That look of desperation he''d tossed at his wife had been genuine. To Mario''s credit, he''d disguised it rather well.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.So that''s the way the wind was blowing. The "ladies" were playing games with both of them. Well, he could play too. "Tell me Mario, how go your affairs this time of year."


    "As well as they should be, though, as always, not nearly as well as one would hope. I''m awaiting a shipment from the north, which should be here within the next two days. I''ll need to leave town by Friday if I''m to meet my next delivery contract on time."


    This boy was very good. He''d casually filled Robert in with the general outline. So he was a merchant of some kind, and, from the look of him, a successful one. Robert mentally chucked himself upside the head. As if Miranda would allow anyone who wasn''t successful in the front door, much less into the family parlor.


    "And how long have you been ''working'' with my wife? I''m afraid that she''s never been all that specific about it."


    Mario caught the slight emphasis on "working." He almost looked to Miranda for approval, but realized that so doing would diminish Robert''s opinion of him. All the information he needed was in the question. "Oh, it''s been a while sir. Four years, seven months, and twenty-three days to be exact."


    "I see. I see. Well, don''t keep standing there like a stranger. Please sit."


    Mario resumed his seat on the settee. Robert sat on the only remaining free chair. The twins took the closest love seat. That meant Eugenia needed to sit either on the love seat across the room or on the settee with Mario.


    Eugenia calmly walked to the settee and sat. Not at the far end, as she would if he were only a friend of her mother''s she wanted to make more comfortable by not leaving him by himself, but not, quite, as close as she would if he were her lover. Once she was seated, she raised her head and looked calmly at her father.


    More and more interesting. Declaration of intent made, but not strongly enough that she was shoving it down his throat. Robert also noticed that Mario''s left hand had twitched slightly when Genie sat, as if he were restraining an impulse to take her hand. In this family that was a rather obvious error, but Robert knew well that his family members were unusually perceptive. Most people wouldn''t have noticed the tic at all. Besides, this Mario fellow was still very young. With a few more years practice he''d do much better.


    Robert essayed a question about how the roads were, and the bandit problem. Mario answered clearly, but concisely, while at the same time managing to make what he said interesting enough that the twins weren''t fidgeting but were rather paying rapt attention. Soon everyone had relaxed. The discussion ranged far and wide, from the kinds of merchandise arriving on the docks of Naples, to exchange rates in various cities, and to the strange animals and birds Mario had seen in various port cities.


    It seemed like only a few minutes, but it had been just over an hour, for Mimi appeared at the doorway and announced, "It''s 6 o''clock, Sir, Madame. Dinner is served."


    They all trooped to the dining room where Robert himself seated Eugenia next to Mario rather than across the table. He knew that he really had nothing to say about the matter, but this way he at least kept up the appearance that his input had some import.


    Dinner lasted almost an hour longer than usual as Mario continued to regale them with stories. Robert noticed that there were a number of times that his wife''s bearing indicated that she was taking mental notes as Mario seemingly rambled on about this and that. For that matter, Robert himself had been filing away a number of things pertinent to his own business.


    By 8 pm things had wound down enough that everyone was comfortably, but not overly, full of both food and talk. Robert pushed back his chair, stood, and announced, "Thank you for coming tonight Mario. I''ve enjoyed the evening a great deal more than most."


    He looked at the clock on the mantle in such a way that everyone else looked too.


    "Well. Well. It''s still that early. Mario, since it''s finally warmed up this Spring, a chamber music group that my bank sponsors will be putting on a free concert in half an hour. It will be on the green just south of where The West Road reaches The Park."


    He put his thumb under his chin and curled his index finger on top of it, "Hmmm. Since you don''t live here, you''d probably best have a guide seeing as how it''s the first performance of the year and the attendance will likely be rather large, even if it is a Sunday. Genie, would you be willing to show him where it is? If you like, you can stay and listen too. The concert should end by 10. I expect that you''ll be able to be back by 11, don''t you think?"


    When he first started talking about the concert, Genie was at a loss. Why was he bringing it up now? By the time he''d finished speaking, she felt that her grin must have her looking like a total idiot. She stood, turned toward Mario, and said, "Mr. Brown. I''d be pleased to escort you to the concert, if you don''t mind walking me home afterwards. It will be a bit late to be on the road by myself."


    Mario stood and bowed to Robert. "Mr. Donetti I thank you for your consideration. I do indeed enjoy good music, and having a guide in such a large city would be a great help."


    Turning to Eugenia he offered, "My thanks to you as well for offering to be my guide."


    Next he faced Miranda. "Thank you for having me. It was an extremely pleasurable evening. It''s rare that I can enjoy both the meal and the company."


    She smiled warmly. "The pleasure is mine. Please come visit us again. Now, you two had best be going. Robert was right. Even though it''s a Sunday, not many will turn down the first concert of the season after such an unusually long winter."


    Mario bowed, turned, and followed Genie to the front door, where he retrieved his cap and Genie put on the shawl that Mimi handed her. "So you don''t take a chill while you''re out."


    Once they were outside and a reasonable distance from the house, Genie took Mario''s hand. "So we don''t get separated in the crowd."


    He squeezed her hand gently. "Of course. I''ll need to be sure I can find you afterwards. I did promise to escort you back after all."


    With that, they both laughed, and strolled hand-in-hand on the way to the first of the events they''d share during their many years together.

 Vol 2 - Ch 24 Seething Emotions

    Beginning the next afternoon, Jason began to run them through a fairly exhaustive set of tests to determine not only how far apart they could be, but also whether hills, buildings, and even flowing water might have an effect on the safe range.  Due to school for the kids, and work for Mario, this required most of their free time for the next three days.


    During the process, they determined that, at least within the valley, there was no problem communicating with Genie so long as at least one of the twins was with Jason, or the twins were together.  With only Jason and Genie trying to use their private channel, things began to break up right at about where the road left the south end of the valley.


    The final results were promising.  At three kilometers out, the absolute maximum distance that Jason and the twins could be separated and still be semi-conscious, Genie was able to be as much as 600 meters away from Mario without having serious symptoms.  Right where the road left the valley it was down to 200 meters.


    On Wednesday, the two of them rode all the way to where the road from The City met the King''s Highway.  In the last kilometer and a half, the safe distance seemed to stabilize at about 150 meters.   No matter what obstacles were in between them, the straight-line distance remained the same.  Genie''s communication link to any two of the others remained rock solid at any distance.


    As a final test on Thursday afternoon, all five of them rode south as far as Warehouse Row.  The twins didn''t have any problems with becoming faint, or confused, as they had when they were separated, but, as they passed the warehouses, they began to be assaulted by gradually worsening anxiety.  There was nothing in particular associated with it except a steadily growing desire to "go home."  Jason was affected as well, but to a much lesser extent.  Still, he did become fairly uncomfortable.


    At that point they all turned around.  When they reached the Mule''s Tale, it was dinner time, so, not wanting to separate any sooner than necessary, they decided to eat there.  As they came in, they saw Alicia at the counter, obviously arguing with someone.  She raised her head to see who had come in, then waved them in the general direction of the dining room.  As one they chose the table closest to Alicia.  They wanted to hear what the argument was about.


    "Listen you old coot!  It is not spelled wrong.  T-A-L-E is correct."


    His back was to the eavesdroppers, so they couldn''t hear his reply.  "All right. All right.  I''ll tell you but only once more.  Are you sure you''re sober this time?"


    All five could see his nodding head and see him holding up a tankard, which Alicia sniffed suspiciously.  Then she smiled.  Apparently it had cider in it, that being the only non-alcoholic drink she sold in that particular container.


    "Look you, it''s a very short story.  The original owner of the inn had a, shall we say, unusual sense of humor.  One day he was more than a little tipsy when he heard one of the customers telling a rather bawdy story about a mule and..."  She looked up at the children, "well, the details don''t matter.  What does matter is that he hadn''t named the inn yet, and it''s said that he laughed so hard he fell on the floor from it -- though it may have been because of the ale he''d already put away.  Anyway, he liked the story so much that he had someone make up a sign for him right then and there.  Ever since then it''s been the ''Mule''s Tale''.  He said it made him laugh every time he saw the sign and was reminded of that story.


    "Now I have other customers to take care of.  You set yourself down and take your time.  We have those chops you like so much today, if you''ve a mind to stay for dinner."


    Alicia bustled over to the table.  This was getting to be as interesting as any of the stories she''d heard lately.  All five of them together?  Something very interesting had to be going on.  She was eventually going to have to get to the bottom of this new tale, no matter how long it took.  But not right now.  For now she''d take their orders and enjoy watching them interact.


    Genie was sitting as close to Mario as the twins were to Jason, even though there was plenty of room for her to sit further away on the bench. That confirmed her suspicion from the first time they''d been here.   Alicia would savor the possible answers to her questions later.  Sometimes trying to figure out why something was going on was just as satisfying as knowing the answer.


    -------------------


    On the way back they didn''t exactly dawdle, but neither did they hurry.  I suppose that one would be most accurate if one said that this time they did amble.  They paused at this shop and then another, mostly just window shopping, but occasionally buying one trinket or another, mostly as gifts.


    When they were coming up on one area that was somewhat darker than the others, Jason innocently suggested, "Genie, why don''t you and Mario go in there and do some kissing and such.  He''s leaving in the morning, so you won''t be able to for a long time.  That''s a good place.  We''ve used it fairly often.  Either Yoko or Hibiki will stand guard while...."


    The rest of what he was going to say was cut off when the twins, who had lagged slightly behind to look at some hair clips, caught up with the others and simultaneously punched Jason in his arms as hard at they could.  This time they didn''t bother to speak "twin."  They laid into him verbally, starting with Yoko.  "You unthinking, idiotic, fool!  How many times do we have ta tell you ta think before ya say something?  Especially when it''s something private.  It''s not like we haven''t told ya before."


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Hibiki took over, "You know that you are not EVER supposed to talk about private things like that except with us.  You dummy!"  Then she looked at Genie and Mario.  Even he was blushing.  How interesting.  She started purring, so softly that none of the others could hear her.  "But now that Jason''s already said it, I suppose that I would not mind keeping an eye out while the two of you ''say goodbye'' to each other.  I shall probably even keep my back turned as long as Yoko and Jason find enough to talk about to keep me from being bored."


    Genie looked as if she wanted to die or kill someone and wasn''t entirely sure which.  Over their link the others could feel that she was mortified, angry, frustrated, and intensely curious.   The twins pushed Jason into position in the middle of the opening, then took their stations on either side of him.  Then they began chatting about nothing in particular, pointedly ignoring the flustered pair behind them.


    After a while, Genie took hold of Mario''s cuff and pulled gently, leading him further into the darkness.  Once she felt that they were adequately obscured from eyes in the street, she stood on her toes and whispered, "It''s embarrassing, but I don''t know anything at all about this kissing business."


    Mario whispered back, "I''m not exactly an expert either."


    Suddenly a pair of hands sneaked behind his neck and pulled down insistently.  Just before their lips touched Genie murmured, "Then I guess we''ll have to see if we can figure out how it works."


    A few minutes later Yoko sent over the link reserved for the three of them, "I see she hasn''t learned ta shut down her emotional leakage when she''s ah, excited, has she?"


    Hibiki answered, "It looks that way.  How much more time do you figure we ought to give them?"


    Once again Jason demonstrated that while he was still having difficulties with what to say and when, he''d become a shrewd analyst of feelings.  "I think about another five minutes.  If we leave them be any longer than that, we might have to explain to her parents why we let her get pregnant.


    Both girls clamped their physical hands over their mouths, and their mental hands over the channel that connected them to Genie.  Uproarious laughter was not conducive to maintaining a romantic atmosphere.  Jason kept his eyes on the stars while they were getting themselves under control.  What seemed like moments later he announced, "It''s time."


    Naturally it was Hibiki who opened herself to Eugenia and purred over the link, "You might think about getting your clothes back in order.  A couple of the shopkeepers are starting to look at us oddly."


    Genie jerked her head back as if she''d been given an electric shock.  Looking down at herself she noticed that Mario''s hands were in places that they shouldn''t be unless they were married, or at least formally engaged.  She was especially flustered considering that they were in an unnamed alley.


    She put both of her hands on his chest and pushed firmly, if reluctantly, against it until they were separated by half a meter. Then she frantically began to straighten her clothes.  Moments later Mario seemed to snap out of whatever state his mind has been in, which was mostly turned off.  When he saw Genie''s condition he jumped back, smothering an oath as he did so.


    Consciousness flooded back, followed immediately by embarrassment, frustration, and regret.  His first thought was; "What have we been doing?"  His second was, "When can we do it again?"  He slapped himself on the cheeks with both hands, then turned his back to give Genie some privacy.


    At that point Yoko sauntered up, chuckled, and said, "It''s a bit late for that, isn''t it?"  Then she began to help Genie rearrange herself.  If Miranda saw her like this, there''d probably be hell to pay.  She lifted her head and spoke to Mario over Genie''s shoulder, "Get yerself out there with Jason and send Biki in.  I''m gonna need help fixin Genie''s hair."


    Fortunately all Mario needed to do was tug his tunic back down to smooth out the few wrinkles.  As he was about to pass Hibiki, she stopped him by stepping in front of him.  Mario heard an odd noise and realized that she was purring.  "Didn''t you say that you won''t be back in town before the first week of August?  You need to realize what''s going to happen when you two meet then.  You''re not going to be able to control yourselves when you''re alone together, ever again."


    She looked up at him and he could see that her primary expression was sympathetic. "You might, just might, consider taking a fair sized stack of writing paper with you when you leave.  I suspect that either you arrange to get married immediately when you come back, or be prepared for either Miranda or Robert to kill you within the first week.  There''s no way in the world you''ll be able to hide what you and Genie will be doing." Then she reached up, patted him on the cheek, and continued on into the alley to help Yoko.


    When Mario reached the street, Jason was looking up at the stars.  "Ah, Jason?  Maybe you can help me out here.  It''s about those twins of yours.  I don''t understand at all what''s going on.  They say that they''re not quite 15 yet, and it''s true that it''s about how old they look. Sometimes though, when they talk, it sounds like they''re at least 40 years old."


    Jason stopped looking at the sky and instead stared at the cobblestones at his feet.  He paused a few seconds then answered, "I''d not thought about it, but you''re right.  Sometimes there''s something very odd about them that way.  I guess I''m just used to it and don''t think about it any more.


    "It doesn''t really matter though, does it?  They care a lot for people and would do anything to help their friends and those they love.  Does your age really matter if you strip away all the non-essentials?  I''m pretty sure that''s right, but then I''ve only just turned 14, so I might be wrong."


    He paused and rocked back and forth on his heels, trying to calm himself down without making a scene, then continued, "But I don''t think so."


    The walk back to the Donetti''s passed without anyone speaking further, not even in "twin."  The only thing that had changed was that the girls walked ahead, with Genie flanked by Yoko and Hibiki, who were each holding one of her hands.  The men followed along about three meters behind them.


    Genie let herself in, not even turning around to say goodbye to Mario.  Her control of her emotions at that point was still erratic, and she didn''t trust herself.  When the door closed, Mario spun around and strode briskly back down the street, heading toward the Mule''s Tale.  He still had things to prepare before he left in the morning.


    Jason escorted the twins home then went home himself.  He wanted to think about a formula that had come to mind as he''d watched the movement of the stars.  He had an idea that might just explain why the planets moved the way that they did.


    Jason was a very honest boy, and he freely admitted to himself that one of the reasons he wanted to work out the math was that when he did so he literally forgot everything else.  Right then he REALLY wanted to forget what he''d felt leaking from Genie and how it had made him feel about the twins.

 Vol 2 - Ch 25 Lonely In A Crowd

    When the twins got home, they found their parents spending some rare quiet time together in the library, each of them with a book in their lap.  Hibiki cleared her throat.  "Mother, might we please have a few minutes of your time?  Something has come up, and we will be needing your advice."


    When Blair looked up, Yoko nodded her agreement.  "Certainly girls.  I''ll be happy to."


    She turned to her husband.  "Hiroshi dear, it seems that our children have something they need to discuss with me.  I shall return as soon as we''re finished."


    Hiroshi didn''t even look up. He just waved one hand vaguely in her direction and continued reading.  His casual inattention was just a bit irritating, but his ability to focus himself so intently on whatever task presented itself to him was one of the things Blair loved about him.


    "Where should we talk girls?"


    Hibiki answered, "Anywhere as long as we can be absolutely private I think.  Do you not agree Yoko?"


    Yoko nodded earnestly. "Yeah, that''d be best."


    How interesting.  They were clearly anxious about something but they didn''t look as if it were anything...well...Blair wasn''t sure.


    "It''s closest, so let''s use your father''s..."  Before Blair could finish her sentence both girls vigorously shook their heads "no."


    Blair was taken aback.  "Oh?  Might I ask you why?"


    The girls had a hurried "twin" conversation, then Hibiki answered, "We are really not sure, it just feels wrong to talk about this particular matter in a man''s territory."


    She hung her head.  "I am sorry Mother. I do not know any other way to say it."


    Blair gathered them in her arms and squeezed.  "You don''t have to.  If I wanted to talk about womanly things, I don''t think I''d want to do it there either."


    She cocked her head in a way that made it clear where Hibiki had gotten the habit.  "I assume it must be something to do with something like that.  Or am I mistaken?"


    Again the girls shook their heads "no."


    "Very well then, why don''t we use the room we keep upstairs for when your grandmother Tsukimine returns to The City each Fall.  It''s private and has a strong ''feminine'' vibe.  Does that sound better?"


    She was met by nodding heads and expressions of relief, so she turned and led the way up to the top floor.  When they arrived and had closed the door, instead of sitting on a chair, Blair sat on the edge of the bed, sat one of the girls on either side of her, then wrapped an arm around each.


    "All right.  Tell me.  All of it, even if it''s terribly embarrassing.  If you want me to help, I''ll need full information in order to arrive at an appropriate conclusion."  She laughed lightly.  "Look at me, even with you I sound like a spy.  Still, what I said was correct.  Tell it in your own way and at your own pace."


    The girls half-turned and wrapped their arms around their mother''s waist, then burrowed their heads into her chest, just as they had when they were little.  Suddenly, the words, "We''re scared!" burst from their lips.


    Blair let go of them and began to stroke their heads.  "Well begun my dears.  Now tell me what scares you and why.  Once you''ve done that, we''ll work out together what we can do about whatever it is, OK?"


    They both nodded without lifting their heads.  Yoko turned her head so her ear was against her mother''s breast and she could hear her heartbeat.  Then she began speaking about their day and ended with what had occurred between Genie and Mario and their part in it.


    Half an hour later Hibiki finished with, "We were so sure that we knew all that we needed to know about getting along with Jason in that kind of way.  We were absolutely certain that as long as we willed it strongly enough we could keep control of ourselves until it was time to get married."


    Yoko continued the thought, "But we were wrong.  Hopelessly wrong.  You know that we can talk to Jason and Genie in "twin".  But we also can talk privately with him and to each other, and even to Genie.  She can''t always control what she lets us feel yet.  She needs more practice.  So tonight all of us felt what she was feeling, though it was probably at least muted some.  That was bad enought, but at the end we could feel Jason too.  He wanted ta hold us so badly that it was almost killing him."


    Wiping a tear from her eye she whispered, "But you know him.  He never said a word about it, and by the time we were heading home, he''d completely shut down the channel so we couldn''t feel him at all."  Then she sighed, almost a sob, "And not feeling him is incredibly lonely, even if he''s standing right in front of us."


    Closing her eyes, she tried to get closer to Blair than she already was.  "It''s not fair.  It''s not supposed to hurt this much when you''re in love with someone!"


    There was silence for almost a minute.  Blair''s eyes were unfocused as she stared in the direction of the ceiling.  She was still thinking when Hibiki began to speak again.  She wasn''t quite finished after all.  "Mother, we need to get married, as soon as it is legally possible.  Otherwise I think we shall fall apart.  Being separated emotionally is worse than being separated physically."


    She lifted her face, with tears streaming down her cheeks.  "Please.  Please find some way to help us!"


    Hibiki once again buried her face in Blair''s chest.  Blair continued to stare with unseeing eyes toward the wall across from the bed.


    Things were worse than she''d even allowed herself to imagine.  In her work, she''d had to deal with situations where closely bonded twins had been separated and had then either gradually gone insane or died suddenly.  What terrified her was that this time it was her own children who were showing the exact same signs that the others had in the very early stages of their breakdowns.


    She forced herself to dredge up pertinent facts and options.  It was true that when the twins turned 15 next month they would technically be of an age to marry.  The only extra step beyond the usual was that two priests had to agree that there was a sound reason for marrying a year earlier than the usual minimum age.  The actual reasons didn''t have to be given, though it was often assumed that the girl had gotten herself pregnant.  Any whispered innuendo to that effect would evaporate within a few months, just as they had after Paolo and Sara had been married so quickly and "everyone" had leapt to the conclusion that she was expecting.


    That part was doable.  There were more than two priests serving at the Little Cathedral or the Church of the Placid Heart who she was sure would help them.  From what Sara had told her, except for a few hopeless curmudgeons, almost all of them were well pleased with her and Paolo and would be more than happy to assist their family.  The problem was Jason.  The law was extraordinarly clear when it came to specifying the youngest age at which a male could be wed and it was 17, 16 if, like with girls, two priests certified that it was necessary.  The problem was that Jason had just turned 14.


    The option of having him move in with the girls didn''t exist.  They''d be found out, probably within days, and that would be the end of not only them but their entire families.  There''d be no way for Henrietta to get them out of it either.  She might even support their prosecution.  There was a good reason for that particular law.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Then it came to her.  In matters of marriage, Church Law trumped Secular Law.  She knew that she was grasping at straws, but there very likely wasn''t anything else viable.  First thing tomorrow she''d arrange to see Paolo and, later, Bishop Lundgren at The Church of the Placid Heart.  After that, depending on how things went, she might also need to consult with Archbishop Comfort.  She was well known to have a kindly temperament.  There was a strong possibility that she''d support them, as long as there was some sort of precedent, especially as she was herself a twin and had two sets of twins of her own.


    It might just turn out that all the arranging of the old church records that Paolo and Jason had done would be useful.  She had no idea as to how, but, at least for now, it seemed like she had no other viable option.


    ---------------


    Ailin withdrew his mind from the bedroom.  He''d done what needed doing, which meant it was time to leave them alone.  While he might need to watch some fairly intense, intimate, and even -- rarely -- horrific situations, when it got to the point that he was no longer needed, he withdrew.  One thing he definitely was not was a voyeur.


    Earlier tonight, in the alley, had been just as much fun as it was necessary.  That Hibiki child really was a sensuous creature, and he''d found himself wanting to purr along with her.  Still, males couldn''t purr, and that wasn''t going to change.  All in all, Yoko was much like her sister when it came to her sensuality.  She was just more circumspect in how she expressed herself, which was why Ailin had used Hibiki to deliver his message to Mario.  It was critical that he and Eugenia be married and not runaways or disgraced by an out-of-wedlock pregnancy.  Such might be tolerated, or, for that matter, common in rural villages, but not in a prominent family in a city.  Here it would ruin the reputations of both families, and that would also destroy what his friend''s daughter had been working on these past 700 years.


    Ailin supposed that he couldn''t blame "Lady Blue."  For her species, she was still only in early adolescence herself, and she had no personal experience with romance even though chronologically she was incredibly older than Ailin.  It would be totally unreasonable to expect that she could forsee how strongly and suddenly romantic feelings could rear up and crash over you.


    It was her good "luck" that her parents were here, even though Blue didn''t know it, and Ailin would never betray that trust and tell her .  If you knew that your parents were watching your every move, you''d both resent it and be distracted.  Right now distraction would be disastrous, which meant that Ailin''s interventions needed to be few and subtle.  Fortunately for everyone involved, he had long ago mastered "subtle" in all of its nuances.  Even so he''d leave the really complicated manipulations to Blue''s mother.


    Blair had been nudged toward the only possible solution to the twins'' and Jason''s situation.  Ailin updated Mimi with the latest developments and explained that he wouldn''t need her assistance that night after all, which meant that Mimi was now free to get back to her game with Miranda.  It was a game where there was no winner or loser, but like all of the best games, it was incredibly entertaining.


    ------------------------------


    The next morning Blair received a note from Sara that gave her a perfect excuse to cancel all her appointments.  It seemed that Sara might be pregnant, and she wanted her mother''s expert opinion.


    Blair arrived at the Donetti''s home precisely at 10 a.m. and was admitted by Mimi, who had a knowing smile on her face.  Miranda was already out and about which meant that Blair needn''t pause to engage in the social niceties.  Mimi led her to Sara and Paolo''s room, knocked, and then opened the door.  As Blair passed by, Mimi whispered, "Congratulations."


    Well, that answered that.  How Mimi had known, Blair had no idea.  She did know that Mimi wasn''t your usual maid.  In that, Ailin was almost her twin even though they looked nothing alike and weren''t even remotely related.


    Speculation on that would have to wait.  Other matters were much more urgent, starting with giving her daughter a big hug.  Even though they lived only a few hundred meters apart, they rarely had any time alone.  "Obviously I received your note.  Rather than rambling on about how you feel, or don''t feel, or why you think you may be pregnant, let''s just cut to the chase shall we?  Strip!"


    Sara backed off and stared at her mother in disbelief.  "What did you say?"


    Blair cocked her head.  "I''d think that the person who had a perfect score in the City Exams would know what the word means.  Perhaps I was wrong?  It means remove your clothes, though, in this case, you need only remove what you''re wearing above your waist."


    Sara continued to stare at her in shock.


    Blair stepped forward.  "Do I have to do it for you?"


    "No Mother.  Very well, but I want an explanation afterwards."


    "That''s not only fair, but I''d intended to do so from the beginning. Now get to it."


    It should be understood that Sara was a very modest person, and the idea of removing her clothing, even in front of her mother, when they weren''t about to bathe, or try on a new outfit, was something that she found unsettling.


    When she''d finished Blair stepped forward, bent over and stared at Sara''s breasts.  "Hmmmm."  Then she reached up and gently pinched Sara''s left nipple.


    "OUCH!  Mother what in the world?!"


    Blair nodded, smiled, then hugged her daughter, only mildly put off by Sara covering both breasts with her hands.  "Congratulations my darling, you''re definitely pregnant."


    "What? How?  I don''t understand.  How do you know?"


    Blair handed Sara her clothes and waited until she was dressed again.  Then she waved Sara to a chair and seated herself as well.     "One of the very first signs of pregnancy, and it can appear long before you begin to swell, or feel the baby kicking, is that many women start to develop large, visible veins in their breasts.  You definitely have those.  In addition, your nipples sometimes become very sensitive.  I barely touched you, yet it was painful."


    Blair smiled at Sara.  "So, yes indeed, congratulations are in order.  When was  your last monthly?"


    "Uh, probably around the end of March or early April.  We''ve been so busy that I lost track."


    Blair nodded.  "Well, we can''t be absolutely certain then, but you''ll probably be due around the middle of January, assuming that you don''t lose the baby."


    "MOTHER!  How awful."


    Blair fixed Sara with a piercing stare.  "It''s reality Sara, something every mother knows, or learns.  Not all pregnancies go well, especially first ones.  It''s not at all unusual to miscarry some time in the first three months.


    "Of course we''ll hope that everything goes well.  Usually it does.  That doesn''t mean that we should turn a bilnd eye to the possibilities.  That''s why you need to take VERY good care of yourself from now on.  Which means plenty of rest, proper foods, and absolutely NO wine or beer, at all.  I don''t know why, but women who drink during pregnancy have a high incidence of miscarriage, or stillbirth, or have babies that have ''problems'' with how they look or how they grow.  Some look normal but just aren''t ''right'' somehow, if you take my meaning.


    "Which means you''ll drink tea, and nothing else but tea, until the baby is born.  After that you may have either that or milk while you''re nursing."


    She wagged a finger at her daughter, "And no letting ANYONE talk you into drinking by saying something like ''surely just one won''t hurt''.  They can''t know that, and I can''t see you putting your baby at risk just because some idiot who doesn''t know what they''re talking about tries to force you to drink."


    She smiled at Sara.  "As much as anyone in the world, I know how strong-willed you can be when you put your mind to it.  That''s what you need to be.  No matter what or who, don''t let any one or any thing put your baby at risk."


    Unconsciously Sara wrapped her arms around her lower abdomen and whispered, "No Mother.  That''s something I''ll never let happen."


    Blair stood and hugged Sara again.  "So now ''grandma'' gets to repeat herself. Congratulations.  We''ll have a lot to discuss as things go along, but that''s a good thing. It means I''ll get to spend more time with you."  She looked down at Sara fondly.  "I''ve missed you, you know.  Sometimes very much."


    Sara threw her arms around her mother''s hips.  "I''ve missed you too Mama."


    For a while, they just held each other.  Then Blair stepped back and seated herself again.   "Since I''m here, there''s one not so little thing I could use your help with too."  She explained the situation with the twins and Jason, though without going into all the details about the probable outcome if a solution were not found.  The last thing someone newly pregnant needs is a severe emotional trauma.


    Blair wrapped things up with, "I''m sure you can see what I''m driving at.  I need Paolo to search the old church records to try to find some kind of precedent.  Almost anything will do.  I think he has a greater chance of success than any of the older priests because he just inventoried and cataloged so much of the archives.


    "Do you think he''ll be able to find time?"


    Sara nodded enthusiastically.  "When I tell him why I need the information, I expect that I''ll have to restrain him from exhausting himself."


    She smiled fondly.  "He''s never happier than when he''s helping someone.  If the people he is helping are family members whom he loves, well, he''d probably be willing to take the cathedral apart one stone at a time."


    Blair smiled back.  "You found a good one, didn''t you?"


    Sara nodded again.  "Yes Mother, I really did."

 Vol 2 - Ch 26 Curiouser and Curiouser

    After her mother had left, Sara realized that there was one other piece of good news that she''d forgotten to tell her.  Yesterday she''d been promoted to Librarian In Charge of both the Little Cathedral and the Cathedral of Whispers.  She now had an excellent excuse to dive into the archives herself.  Besides, there were still areas that weren''t properly indexed, and she could oversee that while she was searching for something to help her sisters.


    She had to laugh.  Given that Paolo had only just become a full priest, her new position meant that she was now his superior.  In fact she outranked anyone lower than a bishop.  If and when Paolo rose to that lofty level, he would, at least technically, be her equal.  The reality of the situation, well, that would remain to be seen.


    When Archbishop Comfort had told Sara that she had won the position she''d remarked, "That''ll show those hidebound, rigid ''traditionalists''.  You can bet that I''m going to take a great deal of pleasure in rubbing their noses in the reality of a 20 year old ''girl'' not only scoring 94% on the Library Skills examination, but also that none of their male candidates scored higher than 72%.  I''m especially going to point out that they ranged from 28 to 35 years old.  They''re going to be livid, but maybe that''ll get some blood flowing in their clogged brains.


    "Oh, and don''t worry Sara.  They''ll never be anything but cordial toward you.  Don''t expect any dirty tricks either.  Their prejudices may be stuck in the last century, but not one of them has failed to approach me over the past months to compliment me on what a fine job you''ve been doing as an Assistant Librarian.


    "If they give me any trouble at all, I''m going to remind them of their own words.  Frequently.  I expect that within six months, a year at most, they''ll have forgotten your gender entirely.  What they''ll remember is how you''ve made their work easier, and that''s far more important to them."


    Sara was suddenly, inexplicably tired.  She wrote it off as due to the stress of the morning.  Regardless of the cause, she had no duties until that afternoon, so  a nap was definitely in order.  As she drifted off, her excitement almost kept her awake.  Librarian In Charge and pregnant.


    FANTASTIC!


    -----------------


    Sara arrived half an hour early at her new office behind the Little Cathedral.  She wanted to catch Paolo before he got tied up with another task.  After talking to him, if she delegated any non-critical tasks to her staff, she''d also be able to focus on searching for what the twins needed.  She shook her head at the incongruity of it all.  Here she was preparing to do something for the express purpose of selfishly helping her family.  However, in the process, she''d be indexing long-neglected records that nobody else had wanted to touch.  In the end, she''d probably receive a commendation for taking on the job.


    She felt rather guilty about it, but she had no intention of not doing it either.  The part of her that was completely logical pointed out that demonstrating that she was willing to work hard, in spite of her new position, would help to quell any criticism directed at appointing a "mere female" to such a highly desirable, and influential, post.


    Seeing Paolo with his arms full of books, she flagged him down.  He deposited his load on a nearby table then gave her a brief, chaste, but heartfelt hug.  After that Sara picked up a book from the pile at random, opened it, and pretended to be discussing something about it with Paolo.  Once she''d finished explaining what was going on, she noticed Paolo''s hands were clenching the back of a nearby chair and his knuckles were white.


    "I do not EVER want to see ANYONE, twin or not, burdened with such a horrible thing ever again.  It goes without saying that we must protect children from being abused by those seeking to manipulate them by forcing them into early or political marriages, but when something like this happens....  We MUST find or create and formalize some sort of procedure that will also protect them from those who ''for their own good'' would cause them pain.  There needs to be a middle ground that, even if everyone doesn''t entirely agree with it, everyone can acknowledge is at least sensible and fair."


    Sara noticed that, as he spoke, his hands relaxed and blood began to flow into his fingers again.  "Well my love, those seem like very reasonable ideas.  Now why don''t we dig into the archives and see if some right-thinking churchmen of the past have already addressed the problem.  If they have, but the situation didn''t come up all that often, it wouldn''t be surprising if the procedure was gradually forgotten."


    Then she whispered, "I''m going to give you an official assignment in a moment.  After I do, I want you to look put-upon, but you will agree to perform your assigned task, just as any good, but lowly, newly-ordained priest would."  She snuck a smile at him then drew herself up and spoke loudly enough that a few of the others nearby could hear her, "Your assignment is to complete what you began two months ago.  You will devote yourself, when you are not instructed otherwise by the bishop or are in class, to further improving the organization of the archives.  Do you understand?"


    Paolo bowed his head, so nobody could see his grin.  She was a great actress.  "Yes Librarian.  I understand. I shall begin as soon as I complete my current task."


    Sara winked at him and replied, "Very well. I shall be working at the Cathedral of Whispers for the next week.  I want regular reports on what I expect will be expeditious progress."


    With that she turned, exited the building, and headed for her office.  She needed to organize her desk and get her staff working on reasonable tasks that would take each of them at least a week.  Then she''d head over to Whispers and start digging.


    Paolo''s special ability was of great use for the next few minutes as he heard various hushed voices while he was replacing the books he''d just carried in.  "Already henpecked he is."  "Women are like that.  They love being able to give men orders and get away with it."  "But she''s an awfully pretty thing.  It''s probably worth it."  "Well, that may all be true, but we DO need those files properly organized, and I sure as heck don''t want to have to do it."  "Amen to that brother. And speaking of which, we''d best get back to work ourselves."


    Brimming with mirth, Paolo stored every single comment in his memory.  Sara would enjoy hearing them after they got home that evening.  For now though, once he''d finished his shelving, he''d dive into the archives and see what could be found to help his sisters-in-law.


    ---------------------


    Early the next morning, Sara and Paolo headed back to the cathedrals.  Working on Saturday morning wasn''t precisely required any more now that he was ordained, but when he first began his training, it was "suggested" that he put in some time on Saturdays to help get things ready for the Sunday services. He''d developed the habit of doing it every week and continued after his novitiate was complete.  After that was finished, he dove into the archives.


    Over the next few weeks, like Sara, his "diligence" was noted and recorded.  As May marched on, the oldest records in both cathedrals saw significantly more traffic than they had in the previous four or five decades.  Not only churchmen, but scholars from Ingvold and other schools were scheduling time for their research projects, not only because of the increased funding flowing from the Duchess, but also because searches had become easier due to the improved indices.


    Akane was one of those most often frequenting the very oldest records.  Like Sara she would have been spending some time there anyway.  When she found out from Blair about the twins'' problem, and the substantial risk to their health, she''d allocated at least two hours every day.


    Blair, on the other hand, had almost no time at all to search the records.  Her spy network had to come first, no matter what. At this point, what she could say about her children was that they might die.  If she were to slack off on her work, some of her people would die.  Even so she dithered and worried until Sara pulled her aside and informed her, in no uncertain terms, that her presence would be more hindrance than help since she had no training in research methods.  For her to be effective, someone who did know how to use the archives would have to take time away from their search to teach Blair.


    One thing a good spy understands, with great clarity, is a lose-lose situation.  It was cold comfort, but she was able to sleep a bit better.


    It''s been said that the threat of death does wonders for helping one focus one''s concentration.  It didn''t completely apply to Blair, but she did find herself able to deal with her daily situations with increased speed and accuracy. Because of that, she had more time to provide the twins with what they needed most now that they were avoiding being with Jason, companionship.  It''s not that they didn''t want to be with Jason, but their level of stress rose significantly whenever they were near each other.


    When they had to be together, they confined themselves to very tightly constrained conversations in "twin" where they made extraordinary efforts to block their emotions.  Fortunately school had just closed  for Spring Break, and physical contact could be severely limited.  For his part Jason worked harder than he ever had before to control and channel his excess energy by pouring himself into his mathematics.


    As a result he was constantly tired, which tended to mute his behaviors as well as his emotions.  As for the girls, I''d like to say that their stress level was also improving, but it was getting worse.  It wasn''t as bad as if they''d been with Jason all day at school, but it was climbing steadily.


    Miranda had taken another tack.  She''d had her network seek out physicians who might have expertise in treating twins with severe separation problems.  She''d not expected to find one, but she was pleasantly surprised when, within a week, her agents had found nine.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.    Once she had their names, Blair arranged to dispatch Eugenia to interview each of them in turn, under the guise of a student doing legwork for a professor who was preparing a scholarly paper discussing stress related problems in twins.


    Eugenia amassed much more information than she''d ever expected, and was astonished to find that about 60% of it varied little from one physician to another.  Doctors, like most specialists in any field, tend to have highly individual opinions about many things and frequently disagree.  Finding 60% concordance was remarkable and almost unprecedented.


    (When the crisis ended, one of the professors at Ingvold did prepare a lengthy and comprehensive paper discussing the problems of stress in twins.  It was extremely well received, especially by the military who wanted their pairs to be as effective as possible at all times.  Genie, in addition to being mentioned as a co-author on that paper, also had her first ever solo paper published, based on the same research, although hers discussed the possible reasons why experts disagree when given the same facts to work with.  It also reviewed the likely reasons behind why the areas that they did agree on tended to be the foundations from which their other opinions diverged.)


    Once she''d finished with her interviews, Genie, Miranda, and -- surprisingly -- Mimi sorted the notes into piles.   They had "High probability of accuracy," "Moderate probability," "Might be correct -- needs correlation," and "Where did they come up with this garbage?"  As always, the final category was Mimi''s suggestion.


    Genie and Miranda were carefully reading each page before choosing a pile.  Mimi though would glance at a page for a few seconds at most and then toss it onto the correct stack.  Miranda and Eugenia soon quit what they were doing and just watched Mimi.  It was not so much because of her speed, but because every single page she tossed toward a pile from up to a meter and a half away landed neatly on top of the previous ones.


    They exchanged glances then, as one, stacked their remaining sheets on top of Mimi''s.  Mimi never looked up, but kept sorting until she was finished.  When she was, the others noticed that a fifth pile had somehow appeared.  The label on it said, "Whoever came up with these ideas ought to have their  license revoked.  Then shoot them.  These so-called treatments are extremely dangerous."


    Genie had recorded the name of whichever physician she''d interviewed on each page.  Miranda found that every sheet in the new pile had the names of the same two physicians on them.


    She walked to her desk, took out a piece of paper, lifted her pen, and began writing.  What she wrote was: "Investigate the qualifications of Drs. Ulysses Braun and Fiorina Ramanujan."  After sanding the note she picked up and rang a small bell on her desk.  She handed the note to the man who appeared and said only, "Immediately."


    He bowed and faded out of the room.


    Two days later Genie saw a crowd gathered around the "Official Notices" message boards outside The Residence.  When she was able work her way close enough to see, there was one new notice which read, "Ulysses Braun and Fiorina Ramanujan have been arrested.  Charges include, but are not limited to, practicing medicine without proper licensure and proof of ability, and recklessly inflicting harm on citizens of The City.  All parties who have suffered injury of any kind as a result of the actions of said persons are to report to Guard Corporal Levi and present their cases."


    It was the first time she''d seen results from what her mother did.  It''s not that nothing ever happened, but rather that Genie had not previously been privy to the confidential activities behind the actions.


    As she turned to head home she realized that she was lucky that they were in Spring Break.  She''d been having a difficult time getting herself up and moving for almost 10 days, and it was getting worse.  She had also recently developed a dull, throbbing headache that was beginning to plague her even in her sleep.


    She shouldn''t have put off doing something about it for so long, but, with everyone devoting their free time to researching how to help the twins, she''d felt that her problem was a lesser priority.  Even so her mother was probably going to yell at her.  She''d been taught from the beginning that an agent needs to notify her superior when she wasn''t at 100%.  In the field, not being at peak efficiency could either require changing a mission plan or scrubbing it altogether.


    As she walked home, the sunlight reflecting off the windows along the way made her headache much worse.  When she opened the door, Mimi caught her as she tripped on the threshold.  The next thing she knew, she was in bed with an ice pack on her forehead and her mother sitting beside her holding her hand.  "Details Genie.  Speed doesn''t matter.  Be as complete as you can."


    Eugenia heard herself reporting the progression of her symptoms over the past 10 days.  It seemed to be fairly accurate.  When she''d finished, Miranda was at a loss.  Genie didn''t have a fever.  Her pulses and breathing were normal, and her abdomen was soft and not distended or tender.  Obviously something was wrong, but what?


    She settled herself in a meditative posture and let her thoughts run free.  She''d learned years before that the technique would often result in her mind coming to a correct conclusion without her being consciously aware of how it had been derived.


    Several minutes later she raised her head and said, "Twins.  Hibiki and Yoko.  As soon as possible if they are mobile.  Bring their nightgowns."


    Mimi replied, "Yes Madame," and vanished out the door.


    ---------------


    The twins arrived, with Blair following along.  None of them looked all that good.  The twins were almost haggard.  They were wearing very light coats that hung to their ankles, obviously tossed over their nightgowns.  They must have been in bed too.


    Blair was succinct, "Your plan?"


    Miranda answered as she led the others upstairs, "You know of our recent research.   I think I know what will improve their symptoms, at least temporarily."  Upon entering Genie''s bedroom, she pulled back the covers of Genie''s bed.  "Coats off the girls then get one on each side of her."


    Blair forebore from saying anything.  She and Mimi removed the twins'' coats and maneuvered the girls into position.  They seemed only partially aware of where they were, and Genie was by now not much better.


    But, immediately upon touching Genie, the twins rolled toward her until their chests were partially on top of hers and their heads on her shoulders.  Next, each threw an arm across Genie and laid it on her twin''s back.  Genie, whose arms had extended themselves as the twins curled up against her, now brought them down and wrapped them around the twins.  Before anyone could count to five, all three were asleep.


    Mimi suggested, "Madames, we should probably leave them uncovered lest they become overheated."


    Miranda nodded.  "Agreed.  Let us do exactly that.  Please have tea brought to my study."  She turned toward Blair.  "Mrs. Macklin and I need to talk."


    "Yes Madame."


    Miranda glanced over her shoulder at the children.  When she turned back, Mimi was gone.  "One of these days, I really do need to figure out how she does that."


    Blair responded, "Interesting.  Ailin does exactly the same thing.  But, as you say, we have other, more pressing needs at the moment."


    About half an hour later, Mimi escorted an anxious Akane into the study.  "I''m sorry for visiting without notifying you first, but something has happened.  I''m not sure yet whether it''s good, bad, or indifferent.  I need your input."


    Miranda poured tea into a third cup that had appeared.  "Please Akane, sit down.  Then tell us what''s happened."


    Akane sat, took a sip of tea, then put her cup down and turned toward Blair.  "You know that Jason hasn''t been doing very well lately, though perhaps not as poorly as the girls?"


    "From what you''ve told me, you''re probably right Akane, though it''s hard to say not having seen them together.  As of this morning they were practically bedridden."


    "Well then, yes, Jason has been doing better than that, though he''s been getting confused at times.  Anyway, just before I came over he suddenly stood up from doing his mathematics, said ''I''m sleepy," and headed off to bed.  It''s still morning. He never takes naps this time of day.


    "By the time I caught up with him, he was already asleep.  I tried, but I couldn''t wake him.  I checked him for a fever, but he doesn''t have one.  His breathing was normal too.  Do you have any idea what might be going on?"


    Blair and Miranda exchanged glances.  Interesting.  Miranda stood.  "I think perhaps I do.  Will you come with us please?"


    Blair and Akane rose and followed Miranda to Genie''s bedroom.  Upon seeing the girls Akane asked, "How long?"


    Blair answered, "Since about 40 minutes ago."


    "Curiouser and curiouser.  I think that, once this is all sorted out, we need to do some more experiments, sooner rather than later, don''t you think Miranda?"


    "Indeed I do.  For now I have what I suppose we can call a ''working hypothesis''.  You know about Mario Brown''s effect on Genie with regard to Separation Sickness.  Yes?"


    Akane and Blair nodded for her to continue.


    "I think that, just maybe, right now Genie is anchoring the others just like Mario does for her.  She appeared to be quite ill an hour ago, but look at her now.  She looks completely normal, and  so do your girls Blair.  When they arrived they looked like they''d been made up as ghouls for All Hallows Eve."


    "I''m not sure why, but I have this, I guess you''d call it ''an intuition'', that they''re going to sleep for the next 24 hours or so.  It also feels like after that they''ll need to do this about every third night."


    Miranda shook her head in frustration.  "I hate it when things like this happen.  It doesn''t make sense.  There''s no logic in it, but even so I believe it as much as I do that the tax collector will show up three times a  year."


    Blair smiled fondly at her girls, finally relaxing herself now that they looked so much better.  "It''s hard to argue considering what''s here before our eyes.  Right Akane?"


    "I have to agree.  I''ve read a great number of histories where fantastical things are recorded as having happened.  A very few, not many, but some, have later been proven to have really occurred.  I suspect that this is one of those times."  She lifted her chin, having made a decision.  "I''d best get home and see if I can arrange for someone to check in on Jason now and then, and what to expect.  After that I must go to a pre-new-term meeting at school. I''m loath to leave Jason, but there''s not much I can do except sit there and watch him sleep."


    She chuckled.  "If he found out that I''d done it, he''d never let me hear the end of it.  He''d be nagging me about ''wasting valuable time'' for weeks."


    She turned to leave but was intercepted by Mimi.  "Please don''t bother yourself Madame Fukui.  I''ve informed Ailin of Jason''s needs.


    She will watch over young Jason until you arrive home, so you needn''t hurry.  You should stay here with Madame Donetti and Madame Macklin and finish your tea.  Since you haven''t had breakfast, I''ve left a substantial snack for you.  You''ll need your energy when you joust with the ''old fogies'' that so annoy you."


    Mimi escorted them out of Genie''s bedroom and carefully closed the door.  "I shall watch them and will inform you should there be a need."


    All three of them watched as Mimi flowed across the landing and then down the stairs.  Finally Miranda said, "I believe that we should follow her instructions.  My desire to sort her out is becoming a bit more acute, but it still is less urgent than our other problems.  Let''s adjourn back to my study.  That way, should we faint from shock, we''ll at least be sitting down."


    The others nodded their agreement.  None of them fainted, but, truth be told, they all felt rather light-headed and just a bit numb.  What in the world was going on?

 Vol 2 - Ch 27

    Genie yawned and stretched.  She''d had such a wonderful dream.  She couldn''t quite grasp what it had been about, but the feeling of something delightful stayed with her like a deliciously scented perfume.  Well, no time for woolgathering.  She had things to do.  She made to get up from her bed and discovered that she couldn''t move anything but her head.  What the...?


    She was flat on her back.  She never slept on her back but rather on her side, specifically her left side, so she wouldn''t be facing the wall.  So why?  She was still groggy, which itself was very unusual for her.  She slowly turned her head to the left and saw a head pillowed on her left shoulder.  Next she turned her head to the right and beheld the same scene.


    Hmmm.  It seemed that two people were in bed with her and lying partially on top of her.  OK.  That explained why she couldn''t move.  The next question was:  Who were they?  Time to think logically.  They looked a lot alike, so they were probably twins.  She looked again.  Yes, twins.  Females for sure.  That was good.  She wasn''t sure what she''d have done if it had turned out that they were boys.


    Next question:  Which twins?  Slowly, almost glacially, she ran through the list of twins she knew, then sorted for females, then for those smaller than she was.  Finally she sorted the few who remained by how well she knew them and whether or not they were friends.


    Ah!  She had it.  They had to be Yoko and Hibiki Fukui.  Problem solved!  Now that she had, she considered going back to sleep.  She realized that lying on one''s back in bed was quite comfortable, and the twins were nice and warm.  She began to drift off when there was a sudden, urgent demand from her body.  If she didn''t get up and relieve herself, she was going to pee her bed.


    That was absolutely unthinkable.  She hadn''t done that since she was four.  Well, maybe five, but still....  She carefully extracted herself from the still sleeping twins and got to her feet.  How odd.  She felt incredibly weak, but there was nothing for it.  Nature called and the call was growing more urgent by the second.


    She''d managed to stagger forward about three steps when Mimi appeared to support her the rest of the way.  As she closed the door she murmured her thanks then sank down to take care of her business.  Once she was finished she let herself out.  Nobody there.  It really wasn''t surprising. Mimi had other things do do in the morning than wait for her while she was on the toilet.


    She was still a bit stiff and unsteady, but she was able to manage reasonably well and worked her way along the balcony without losing her balance.  Well maybe just once, but she caught the  railing  and steadied herself.


    Her mind had managed to rev itself up just a bit by then and another question she hadn''t thought of earlier floated to the surface of her mind.  She''d been sleeping with the twins.  That was fine.  They were friends, not romantic interests.  Then she realized that she''d missed something important earlier: WHY were they sleeping with her?


    She smiled to herself.  Excellent!  She''d come up with a good question.  Her mother would be proud of her.  Now that she knew the question, she needed to figure out how to answer it.  That part was easy.  The twins were, probably, still lying on her bed.  She could ask them!


    Congratulating herself for her astuteness, she strode, more steadily now, to her bedroom and found, as expected, that the twins were still there, though they were now sitting upright, rubbing the sleep from their eyes.  As Genie opened her mouth to speak to them, a look of horror flashed across each of their faces.  They sprang from the bed, ran out the door, split up, and sprinted down the balcony in the direction of the two closest toilets.


    How rude!  The could at least have said hello.  Well, they''d probably be back fairly soon.  In the meantime she could pull on a shirt and some sweat pants.  She ran her fingers through her hair, or, rather she tried to.  OK.  After clothes, hair brushing would be needed.  It was shortly after she began brushing her hair that her mind finally turned on completely.  Her arm froze in mid brush.  Oh my!  The last thing she remembered was coming home, tripping on the threshold, and something about Mimi being there.  After that everything was a blank until she''d awakened.


    At that point, the twins meandered back into her room.  Genie stayed as she was.  She could see them quite well in the mirror and her hands were still busy.  They yawned and stretched then Yoko said, "Hiya Genie.  Do ya think ya could maybe answer a question for us?"


    Genie continued working on her hair.  It was a real rat''s nest. "Sure Yoko.  What is it?"


    "Ah, do ya suppose ya could tell us why we were in your bed and not at home?"


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.    Genie''s arms froze.  It seemed that her mind has temporarily stopped working again.  The twins blinked several times, then their gaze focused on Genie''s hair. "Oh...my....God!"  She wasn''t sure which twin had said that, or even if it had been spoken or sent via "twin."  Regardless, the result was the same.


    The twins descended on Genie, took the brush from her hand, pushed her arms down to her sides, and began attacking her knots.  Every so often they pulled a bit too hard.  It hurts when that happens.  After one particularly unpleasant tug Genie muttered, "Thanks. I think."


    The twins shook their heads.  They weren''t quite awake yet either.  They looked at their hands, then at Genie in the mirror, then back at her hair.  After that they were much more gentle.  It took a while.  Genie had very fine, naturally curly hair, which is a major pain when it gets tangled, especially when, like hers, it''s worn almost waist length.  On the plus side, it was a very dark black,  which meant she wouldn''t need to cover or dye it if she needed to skulk around at night someday.  Likewise, with her skin being a medium-brownish tone, she wouldn''t need to put much dark makeup on her face either.


    Just as they were finishing, Mimi walked in carrying a tray that smelled of tea and eggs and toast.  Mimi was followed by Ailin, who was carrying a light-weight, folding table such as one used for playing cards.  It wasn''t perfect, but the girls didn''t care.  There was food in front of them and their stomachs were demanding to be filled...now!


    Sven came in last. He was carrying three folding chairs, which he set around the table.  The girls needed no further invitation so they genteelly seated themselves and began to eat in a ladylike manner.


    (No, of course they didn''t.  They charged forward like barbarians and attacked the food like a lion taking down a gazelle.)


    The three "servants" smiled at each other then withdrew.  The girls were obviously doing well enough to be left alone, and each of them had other duties calling them.


    Once the edge had been taken off their hunger, and most of the food was gone, Genie turned to the others, "So, ah, you don''t remember what happened either?"


    The twins looked at each other and had a very brief "twin" conversation.  Yoko answered, "Nope. Not a clue.  Last thing we remember was that we were feeling totally wiped and were just getting ready ta take a nap...in the morning!  Can ya believe that?  We hardly ever take naps, much less just a couple hours after we''ve gotten up for the day."


    She looked down at herself.  "We do seem to have managed to get into our nightgowns though.  Hmm.  We''ll need ta send someone ta get us some clothes before we go home.  There''s no way we''re walking home like this."


    A deep, velvety voice spoke up from behind them, "Do not worry yourselves Misses.  These will be adequate for your trip home."


    The three of them turned.  Ailin was standing by Genie''s bed.  There were two complete outfits, with matching shoes and stockings lying on the bed.


    Genie spoke in "twin," "How does she do that?"


    Hibiki answered, "We have no idea either, she just does."


    Ailin continued as if there had been no interruption, "I trust that these will be adequate?"


    "Oh yes.  Definitely. Thank you Ailin."


    "It is my pleasure. Now, if you will excuse me."


    Before anyone could respond, she had left the room.  Genie picked up her tea.  She was still thirsty.  "You know, now that I think of it, Mimi does the same thing.  I mean appearing when you need her and then seeming to vanish into thin air when you don''t any more.  I wonder how they manage it."


    The twins shrugged. They had stuffed the remaining eggs into their mouths and were busy chewing.  After the last crumbs had been devoured, the twins dressed.  When they were finished and wondering what to do, Miranda and Blair entered the room.


    Miranda said, "Sit."  The girls did.  Miranda and Blair sat on the edge of the bed, then explained exactly what had happened.


    By the time they were finished all three girls were wide-eyed with surprise, but their expressions also displayed relief.  It wasn''t a cure, but they now had a way to buy more time.  The next thing that happened took Genie totally by surprise.


    The twins jumped to their feet, turned toward Genie and bowed deeply.


    Hibiki began to speak, "We are so very, very sorry...."


    She paused as a mischievous gleam appeared in her eyes.  Then she started over, "We had and have no desire to embroil you in our difficulty, but it has become evident that it is far too late for us to extricate ourselves from this conundrum without your assistance."


    Genie responded, "Your distress is not needful, nor is your apology.  We are family, both by marriage and by our own choice.  Never could I leave my sisters to their own devices in such tumultuous times."


    By then Yoko had clapped her hands over her mouth to keep from laughing.  Miranda and Blair, having better control, didn''t need to resort to that expedient.


    Hibiki looked intently at Genie.


    Genie returned the same look.  "Are you thinking what I''m thinking?"


    "I think so.  Talking like that is a lot of fun.  I am sure we could do better though.  We were both a little rough.  We should practice every now and then to see if we can get the words flowing more smoothly.  Besides, if we get good enough, we will probably be able to stun some of those stuck-up old ladies at the formal parties, who have pretensions of superiority, into insensibility."


    They stuck out their hands and shook solemnly.  Then they grinned broadly and turned unapologetically to their mothers.


    Blair drawled, "While I can''t say that I approve of what you plan, as long as I don''t hear about it ahead of time, I don''t suppose I can forbid you to do it."


    She turned to Miranda, "Can I Manda?"


    Miranda pretended to contemplate then answered, "Well, no, I don''t suppose you can.  But I''m sure that we won''t ever hear of our girls planning something like that.  It was of course only a hypothetical idea, right?"


    Nobody said a word after that, but five anticipatory grins filled the room.

 Vol 2 - Ch 28 Eureka!

    Paolo leaned back, sighed, and rubbed at his tired eyes.  He''d thought that he''d finally found something that would give them the leverage they needed, but once he got the document into better light he discovered that the words he originally thought said "marriage contracts" said "materials contracts."


    One more disappointment and one more document entered in the index under: "Contracts - Business - Stone."


    He sneezed twice then stood and walked out into the regular open stacks to get some air into his lungs that wasn''t laden with dust.  They''d been looking for over two weeks now, but either the leads had proven to be like this last one where sloppy handwriting, time, and hope had misdirected him, or they were reports of local marriage customs in the past or in other countries, which could not be used as precedents.  In other words, there wasn''t anything useful.


    He banged his fist on an inoffensive row of books and was showered with dust from higher up on the stack. He recoiled, sneezing violently, and his back slammed into the stack on the other side of the aisle.  Several books fell on his head and shoulders, fortunately doing no damage to him or to themselves.  Hoping that there had been some sort of divine intervention, he scanned their titles.  Bah.  Useless.  Unless studying Etruscan architecture would be helpful, which he rather doubted.


    Spotting the space they''d fallen from, he left to get a short ladder as well as something to blot his copiously dripping eyes and nose.  On his return he climbed up and replaced the books, all the while cursing the delay in his search.  He wasn''t just worried; he was scared to death.  Not just for the twins, but for Sara as well.  She was pushing herself much too hard even though her mother frequently dropped by in the evening and literally hauled her home to rest.


    Today had apparently been some sort of "last straw" as Blair had been shouting at Sara at the top of her voice.  The exact words has been muffled by the stone wall and the stacks but Paolo had been able to make out something about Blair having told her over and over that someone in her position needed to get plenty of rest or...something.  The rest had been distorted both by echoes and distance as they had been moving further away from where he was finishing up his work for the day.


    He didn''t know what was going on, but he was worried that, as their sister, Sara might be suffering from some sort of emotional backlash too.  He''d never heard of it, but there was an incredible amount of misinformation, and simple lack of information in general, about health matters involving twins.  For that matter, there wasn''t much written down about anything concerning twins born in The City.  Not for the first time, he vowed to do something to correct that as soon has he had enough authority to explore his options.


    That would all be far in the future, if ever.  He had only been a priest for 17 months.  Trying to do something now, especially as he didn''t yet know exactly what the problems were, would be futile and possibly harmful. Sighing heavily he continued shelving the books.


    He''d just about finished his task when he noticed a slim, poorly bound volume lying on its side at the back of the shelf.  Either it had fallen from one of the higher shelves, or someone had been too lazy to get a taller ladder and had left it lying there, assuming that nobody would notice.


    He nodded his understanding and scowled his exasperation.  He was feeling a bit lazy himself, as well as irritated and frustrated at whomever had left it there and passed the task of replacing it, wherever it belonged, to him.  He had no intention of taking time to find a taller ladder that would allow him to check the upper shelves.  He''d already worked an hour past his "official" time, and he was far too frustrated to add to his overtime by putting it away immediately.  Fortunately his robes had oversized pockets.  He shoved the book into one of them then went on about completing his written notes before he forgot where he''d put the last few books.  There was no way he wanted to have to do the job twice just because he''d been too tired to write down the details.


    Even though he''s worked overtime, he dawdled for a few minutes.  He wanted to give Blair and Sara time to calm down from whatever it was before he got home.  Fortunately Blair would need to get back to her home fairly soon in order to supervise preparations for dinner.  Once he figured he''d delayed enough, he headed back himself.


    When he arrived at their room, Sara seemed to be calm enough, and she looked like she wasn''t all that tired.  Maybe Blair was just overreacting.  Regardless he needed to get out of his robe and put on something suitable for dinner.  As he pulled it over his head, a seam that had been a bit frayed chose that time to separate and it caught, leaving him to struggle to keep his balance.


    As he hopped around Sara giggled.  Following that, there was a soft thud.  "You dropped something Paolo.  You really ought to empty your pockets before you take your robes off."


    She picked up the book.  "Oh good. It doesn''t look like it was damaged.  What is it?"


    Still struggling with his robe Paolo muttered, "Beats me.  I found it lying on the back of a shelf and stuck it in my pocket.  I guess I forgot to put it away."


    "Heh.  I''m going to call you Mr. Absentminded from now on when I need to tease you.  What''s it about?"


    "No idea.  The light there was awful, and I was too tired to try to read it anyway."


    "Oh. OK.  Let''s see."


    Paolo finally got his robe off then put it in the basket reserved for clothing that needed mending.  Fortunately the robes that priests wore for their daily duties were all alike, and he had three others exactly like it.


    When he turned around he saw that Sara was crying.  Before he could ask she pointed at the the book, which she had open to the title page.  "It says:  Marriage Regulations  Volume Four    Permissible Exceptions Allowed Under Church Law, including an enumeration of  the conditions which must be met in order to grant said exceptions.


    "Paolo, please, never, ever drop a book again. OK?"


    He crossed the room and hugged her tightly.  "I promise dear one.  I''ll do my very best."


    Very, very carefully Sara closed the book, then, just as carefully put it on the table next to her chair.  Then she threw her arms around Paolo and sobbed.  For all they knew, what was in the book might be of no help at all.  They were both very sure of one thing though.  If what they sought existed, it was probably in that slim volume.


    When they''d calmed down, they both blotted their eyes.  Sara sighed, "Promise me that you won''t tell my mother what I just did.  She''s been after me for a full week to avoid becoming overly excited.  She says that too much stress might not be good for the baby."


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.    Paolo exclaimed, "Baby!  What baby?"


    Sara just smiled at him, whereupon he grabbed her again and didn''t let go for quite some time.  When he finally did, he pushed himself back.  "If I were in any other line of work, I wouldn''t believe it.  Two miracles in one day.  It must be a sign...or a joke."


    "Whatever are you talking about?"  Sara''s look was quizzical.


    "Oh. That.  Well it''s just something I''ve been thinking about lately.  We''re taught that we were created after the same image as God''s own, right?  Wouldn''t that mean that God has a sense of humor?  Then if you factor in how wicked Hibiki''s sense of humor is, can you imagine what God''s must be like?"


    "Paolo, sometimes you come up with ideas that scare me.  Any being with a sense of  humor more warped than Hibiki''s is something that I really don''t want to think about."


    Both of them collapsed into laughter.  Just as they finished, Mimi appeared, "Dinner is ready, please come down."


    She began to turn away, then turned back and said,  "Congratulations, times two,"  after which she whisked herself away.


    Sara looked blankly at Paolo who looked right back at her.  "Did she mean that we''re having twins, or did she mean once for the baby and once for the book?"


    Paolo spread his hands in a "who knows?" gesture. "I have no idea.  All I know for sure is that I''ve never known her to be wrong when she makes these vague pronouncements.  Though we usually only find out weeks or months later what she''s talking about."


    He shrugged his shoulders. "Still it''s probably a good sign.  Let''s go get something to eat.  I expect that we''ll be rather busy later, and we''ll probably need some energy for reading the book too."


    "Oh you!"  Sara punched him in the arm and laughed.  Then they walked hand-in-hand down the stairs, smiling all the way.


    -----------------


    After dinner Paolo and Sara excused themselves from their usual after-dinner chat with his parents by explaining what they''d found.  Once they had, Miranda, typically, said, "Well what are you standing here for?  Get going!"


    They laughed.  They got.


    Half and hour later Paolo stood up and stretched.  "On the plus side it''s a good thing that this book is printed otherwise we''d never be able to read it.  On the minus side...why in the world did they use such small type?  Couldn''t they have just made the book a bit larger?"


    Sara shook her head.  "Perhaps you''re right, but can you imagine having to plow through another handwritten tome?  Every day I thank God that Admiral Zheng sent a small printing press back with Captain Turano''s fleet after they met each other in India in AF 649.


    "You don''t suppose that this was printed on that very press do you?  Let me see it for a minute."


    Sara turned back to the title page, pointed at the bottom, then lifted her head, doing some mental arithmetic.  "The common date here is 1314 AD, so that converts to...AF 653.  It just might have been.  That would explain the small size.  They didn''t master making reliable larger presses until around AF 660."


    She turned the page. There was more on the bottom.  "Interesting, it seems that this is a copy of a volume that was originally written in AF 531.  "At any rate, it''s my turn now.  You rest your eyes for a while."


    They traded off about every 20 minutes or so, each one reading the titles of the sub-sections out loud.


    At one point Paolo exclaimed, "OH. Here''s an interesting one.  It won''t help us, but still, it may come in handy someday.  It says that if one prospective partner is of a legal age to be married, and the other is at least 15 (for girls) and at least 16 (for boys) the requirement that the parents of the younger child be present at the ceremony, and thus -- presumably approving the match -- may be waived if the presiding churchman is at least a bishop and certifies in writing that it is a true love match and that there is no coercion.  That part''s obviously intended to prevent someone bribing or forcing a regular priest into performing the ceremony.


    "The rest is just details about how the certification must be worded, where copies need to be filed (likely to prevent the originals from ''accidentally'' being destroyed), and how long they must be retained."


    He turned the page and continued reading silently, then, after about 10 minutes, he froze.  He turned to Sara and then looked back at the book and pointed with a slightly shaking finger.  "This says what I think it does, doesn''t it?"


    Sara took the book and began reading out loud from where Paolo had pointed, "There is one extraordinary circumstance, which no churchman is likely to see more than once in a lifetime, but, for the sake of completeness, still needs to be documented.  Most important of all in such situations is that all documentation must be done exactly as specified, and the priests involved must follow the prescribed formula exactly, on penalty of excommunication."


    She looked at Paolo.  "I''ve never heard of anything so extreme before."


    Paolo just shook his head and, with a look, encouraged her to keep reading.  "Oh, yes.  Of course.  Sorry."


    "Ahem....  If one prospective spouse is of marriageable age, even if barely so, marriage to a still younger person is allowed, even if below the age of 16, BUT only under the following extraordinary circumstances.  Either three priests, a priest and a bishop, or an archbishop must certify that they have thoroughly interviewed the prospective partners and must state in writing their conviction that they are truly in love.  This alone is not sufficient.  They must also state the reasons for their conclusion.  In addition, it must be shown that if the prospective partners are not allowed to be together that one, or more, will become physically ill.  Again, there must be documentation, from at least two physicians, that this is true illness and not something feigned or of a lesser degree."


    Suddenly Sara laughed.  "There''s something written in the margin.  It says, ''So much for the histrionic, juvenile declarations of ''I''ll die if I can''t be with her!''  "Let''s see, most of the rest isn''t useful or necessary.  OK. here''s the last pertinent part.


    "If the younger of the prospective partners is more than two years younger than the usual minimum legal age to marry, but no more than three years, the above procedures will be followed with one additional stipulation.  The official church certification must be by an archbishop or a cardinal and not three priests or two priests and a bishop.  Absolutey no exceptions will be allowed.


    "Even then no girl under the age of 13 may be married, nor a boy younger than 14.


    "Once married, the newly wed may not under any circumstances live alone without adult supervision.  They must live with their parents and must remain there until the youngest completes his or her secondary education.  In the case of the younger taking up a trade, the couple will live with their parents until said younger spouse has attained the rank of Journeyman.  Said rank must be affirmed by examination by at least two Masters not related to the examinee."


    Sara leaned back.  "Wow, talk about detailed.  I didn''t see a single exploitable loophole, did you?"


    "No and if there were, I should have.  One of my classes is officially called ''Logic and Reasoning''.  The priest teaching it calls it ''Hair Splitting''.  There are some amazingly complex discussions of doctrine in the archives where priests have used the same writings to justify completely different positions.  Father Drivas uses them as our texts.


    "Well no matter.  What does matter is that we''ve found it!  At least I think we have.  How long will it be before Jason turns 14?"


    "He already did dear, about six weeks ago.  The birth date that matters is the twins''.  They''ll be 15, and thus of legal age to marry with our parent''s written consent, on the 19th of June.  That''s just a hair over two weeks away."


    Sara pushed back her chair.  "We can discuss the details later, not that our opinions will matter in the long run.  There''s no way our parents will let us be involved with the planning. They''d never let anyone else have all the fun.  And, speaking of which, we need to notify everyone as soon as possible."


    As Sara headed for the door, Mimi opened it and stepped in.  "Madame Macklin and her twins will be here within 10 minutes.  Madame Fukui and Jason will be a bit longer, but no more than 17 minutes.  Mr. Fukui is already asleep since he must be up so early tomorrow.  Mr. Macklin is teaching one of his advanced classes and will be tied up for at least another two hours.  Sven is placing extra chairs in the formal dining room so as to allow everyone to be seated.  I expect that this meeting will take far longer than it should, just as meetings always do.  I shall serve tea and snacks 45 minutes after you begin."


    Paolo''s, "Thank you," chased after Mimi, who was already out the door and partway down the hall.


    "Mimi" and "mysterious" went hand in hand.  Frankly the two of them preferred it that way.  It made life more interesting.  Sara and Paolo smiled at each other then headed downstairs to see if Sven needed help moving the chairs.

 Vol 2 - Ch 29 A Wedding....Almost?

    Once everyone had arrived and been seated, with Jason and the twins not only being on opposite sides of the table but at opposite ends, there was general confusion.  Apparently Mimi had simply indicated that it was important that they get together immediately.  All the parents present were under the assumption that someone else had summoned them.  As soon as it became clear that nobody had any idea what was going on, Robert stood and cleared his throat.  "Does anyone know why we''re here?"


    Sara and Paolo stood as one. Paolo began, "I guess that means it''s our turn.  We found something today that we think might be useful."  His enormous smile gave lie to his statement.   Sara has a better speaking voice than I do.  She''s the best choice to read you the pertinent passages."


    Sara began, "Paolo found this book in the library at the Little Cathedral today.  The title is:  ''Marriage Regulations    Permissable Exceptions Allowed Under Church Law''."


    From the instant she finished reading the title, there was no sound in the room, not even that of breathing.


    Sara lifted the book.  "I''ll read the important part...."


    When she finished nobody said a word.  There really weren''t any necessary.  The silence was interrupted by the sound of Yoko''s and Hibiki''s chairs hitting the wall behind them, followed by the sound of their footsteps as they ran across the top of the table and leapt upon Jason.  Were it not for both Mimi and Ailin standing behind him, he surely would have been knocked backwards onto the floor.  As it was, the chair barely quivered as the girls began to cover his face with kisses.


    For the next few minutes handkerchiefs were much in evidence.  Even Mimi was seen to surreptitiously dab at the corners of her eyes.


    That was when Akane took charge.  "Miranda you''ve researched physicians.  Choose which two you think will best suit, and I''ll make sure that Jason is free to accompany the twins.


    "Also, while it might not be necessary, from what I''ve seen, the Duchess doesn''t like to be blindsided by anything.  You''re also the best one to inform her of what we''ll be doing.  I suspect that nobody''s done anything like this in decades, if not longer.


    "I''ll deal with getting started with the archbishop.  I suspect that Lucina Comfort would be our best choice.  She''s a twin and has two sets of twins herself.  Archbishop Cumberland is a devout batchelor.  He might not be able to understand the situation as clearly."


    The twins had settled down by then, at least somewhat.  Each was sitting on one of Jason''s knees.  Every so often one would lean forward and kiss him on the cheek, then lay her head back down on his shoulder.   His expression was mixed embarrassment, relief, and wonder.


    Akane wasn''t quite finished, and she looked directly toward the trio.  "Girls. Wake up!  I need your attention, NOW."


    Yoko and Hibiki slowly lifted their heads and turned them toward Akane.  Reason returned to their eyes, and they nodded in unison.


    "I''m very sorry, but we won''t be able to throw you the kind of wedding you all deserve.  You three are so close that I''d love to be able to show the world how wonderful you all are.  However, as you are so young, and, as I said, nothing like this has happened for a very long time, any kind of public ceremony would degenerate into a circus, so a reception is out of the question.


    "What we will need to do is keep your marriage secret for as long as possible, hopefully for at least six months, and preferably for a year.  That way, when people do find out, we''ll be able to prove that you are not only compatible but also responsible.  The best way to show that will be for you to continue to do well in school and to not get pregnant.  I trust you understand me?"


    Both girls nodded very seriously.  Jason likewise indicated that he understood the gravity of the situation by nodding along with them and not saying a single word.


    "I expect that it will work best if you alternate having dinner at your parent''s and in-law''s homes.  Let me assure you that I''ll enjoy every minute of it.  I don''t get to see you nearly as much as I''d like.  Hopefully Blair won''t mind either."


    Blair snorted, hiding her not so ladylike laugh.


    "I didn''t think so.  Now for the part you might find most difficult.  You''ll still need to spend almost all of your nights in your separate homes."


    Seeing their shocked looks, she hastened to continue, "I don''t mean that you won''t be able to have time alone together.  That''s why you need to get married in the first place.  We''ll make sure that you have as much private time as you need so you don''t get sick again.


    "I''m quite sure that you''ll find it far superior to sneaking kisses while one of you watches for anyone who might come by."


    She raised an eyebrow.  "Surely you didn''t really believe that neither Blair nor I noticed, did you?"


    The girls blushed, then buried their faces in Jason''s shoulders to hide their embarrassment.


    "Manda, if you please, arrange for the physicians to believe that they''re writing their letters for the school to convince the headmaster that they need to be near each other all day.  If they approach things from that point of view, the wording will probably still work for the archbishop.  If for some odd reason they check on it later, they''ll find out that the seating arrangement is exactly what they expected, and that should satisfy their curiosity."


    A mischievous sparkle appeared in her eyes.  "We won''t even have to lie to anyone that way.  Sorry."


    Miranda drawled, "I suppose that it doesn''t hurt to tell the truth, at least some of the time."


    For some reason, while everyone else giggled or snickered, Mimi, Ailin, and Sven laughed loud and long, after which they apologized profusely for disturbing the meeting.


    Akane wrapped things up.  "Things should be anything but onerous for you.  You''ll walk to school together as always, have lunch together, plus, instead of once or twice weekly, you''ll have dinner together every day.  In addition, you won''t have to deal with stressing out when you''re, ah, spending quality time together.


    "Once Jason turns 16, you can decide which house you''ll live in, just like any other newlyweds."


    Everyone nodded.  It sounded like a good plan.


    Suddenly Blair exclaimed, "Oh my!  That should work!"


    Everyone''s attention turned to her.  "Indeed.  I think it will.  Let''s do this.  Once you start officially living together, we can have a wedding reception for you.  We''ll just tell everyone that you wanted the wedding itself to be completely private.  Here in The City it''s not all that uncommon.  That way we can at least celebrate with you, even if it is a bit belated.  What do you think?"


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Miranda nodded.


    Akane murmured, "A wonderful idea Blair."


    The twins lifted their heads and smiled their thanks at their mother.  They''d been more than willing to forgo the reception, and even an announcement of their marriage, but the thought that they could have a reception eventually made them feel better.  It would be proof to the community as a whole that they and Jason belonged together.


    At that point Sara raised her hand, just as if she were still in school.  "Ah, excuse me Mrs. Fukui.  I think that your plan needs a slight modification."


    "Oh?  And why is that?"


    "Perhaps you don''t know, but as Librarian In Charge of both cathedral''s libraries and archives, I see Archbishop Comfort almost every day.  I think it would be easier, and more natural, for me to speak to her."


    Akane almost bonked her head with her hand, but at the last instant stopped herself.  There were too many people here.  "Yes my dear, you''re absolutely correct.  And speaking of telling people things, I think that we should absolutely not tell any of the younger children.  We''ll have to arrange for them to be away from home whenever the newlyweds need time alone together.  Agreed?"


    Nods all around at that.


    "But we can''t do that with all our staff.  How can we be sure that nothing will leak there?"


    Mimi spoke up, "Please do not concern yourselves with that Madame Fukui.  Ailin and I will arrange that they will not speak of it, even accidentally."


    Akane nodded.  "My thanks Mimi."


    Mimi sketched a bow in return.


    Blair stood.  "That just leaves letting Hiroshi and Sebastian know.  Hiroshi will probably moan about "losing my little girls too," but I expect that knowing they''ll still be living at home, at least for now, will soothe his feelings."


    Akane added, "Indeed.  Sebastian won''t be nearly as vocal about it, but he''ll probably be feeling some degree of parental separation anxiety as well, even if they choose to live with us when the time comes.  Besides it''s best if he becomes accustomed to it with Jason.  When Kaho''s turn to choose a partner arrives, things might not be so easy."


    Miranda and Blair nodded.  The others looked somewhat confused but forbore to ask any questions.  They had enough to think about already.


    The door to the kitchen opened, then Mimi and Ailin entered with two huge trays of tea and snacks.  Those closest to Mimi heard her muttering to herself, "I must be getting old.  I was sure that this was going to take at least an hour or two."


    -----------------


    Monday, June 12th in The Year 724 After the Founding


    No one had expected smooth sailing, even though they knew that everything could be done completely legally and above board.  Given that, they were astonished at how incredibly quickly everything was managed.  It turned out that Hibiki''s and Yoko''s "Separation Sickness" problem was far from news to the physicians who evaluated them.  They and their parents were shocked when they learned from the doctors that, rather than the "several hundred" that Jason had mentioned previously, there were almost 3,000 trios in The City.  Of those, there were at least 400 who were just as restricted in their movements as they were. The doctors willingly wrote their letters certifying that there was a definite need for the three to be together as much of the day as possible or various unspecified, but awful, things would happen.


    Then there was the archbishop.  The problem of convincing her was solved easily, though in a totally unexpected manner.  They''d managed to arrange for their appointment to take place only six days after the families had met.  In itself that was nearly a miracle, given how busy an archbishop can be.  Only Sara, the twins, and Jason were present, everyone having assumed that the evaluation would take at least two hours.


    As their appointment had been scheduled for 4:30 in the afternoon, they''d planned to catch a late dinner at a nearby restaurant when it was over, but the reality was nothing at all like what they had imagined.  The reason was made clear at 4:42 when their discussion was interrupted by a knock on the door followed by two sets of twins.  Archbishop Comfort introduced them.  The eldest, at 23 were her two boys.  The girls were 19.


    Once the introductions had been made Lucina said, "They''re all yours," then sat back down in her chair and could be seen to be writing something while she waited for...whatever it was.


    Her boys stood in the middle of the room, with their backs to Lucina.  Then one girl stood to the side of each boy and motioned for Hibiki and Yoko to join them, with Jason standing in the middle so that they were all facing each other.


    Then the eldest boy, Geori, said, "Hold hands," which they did, forming a loose oval.


    All four of the elder twins closed their eyes, after which Hibiko, Yoko, and Jason felt a mild, tingling sting passing through their bodies.


    Thirty seconds later the Archbishop''s children dropped their hands, and three headed toward the door.  Geori went to his mother, bent over and whispered in her ear, "I''ve never seen anything like it.  It''s a wonder that they can even walk when they''re not near each other."


    Then he exited and carefully closed the door behind him.


    In the anticipatory silence Archbishop Comfort''s chuckle seemed much louder than it was.  "I guess I need to explain.  My children haven''t inherited my magical abilities, or, more correctly, each has only very minor strength in that area.  However, when they are joined together, as you just saw, they can answer anything I''ve asked them about how someone else is feeling or their general physical condition.


    "I''m sure you can see the utility.  They can also tell if someone is lying or telling the truth. That alone is of immeasurable value to me.  Now having heard their report, I know exactly what I need to do, which is to sign all of these."


    Having so spoken, she signed, one after the other, four rather large documents.


    "Sara has explained your plans to me.  I was a bit concerned at first."  She held up her hand in a reasurring gesture.  "Not about your getting married, but about your plan for living arrangements.  The law states that you must live in the home of your parents after you''re married.  You''re planning on living separately for now, which didn''t seem to be what was meant.  However, the law does not explicitly say that you must live together.  It only says that you cannot live alone without parental supervision.  Since you have all lived with your parents your entire lives, and as your parents have proven to be more than adequate at raising you, I have chosen to not interpret the pertinent passages but rather to stick exactly to what they say.  You will be living with your parents.  That meets the requirements.


    "Now, as for your marriage.  Here."  She held out a small document in each hand.  Once the children had taken them she said, "Congratulations, almost.  They''re dated seven days from today, on the twins'' birthday.  As soon as you turn 15 you''ll be married."


    "...."  They were all speechless.


    Finally Sara managed, "But...doesn''t the ceremony always require witnesses?"


    Lucina lifted her head and smiled.  "You saw me writing while my children were here, did you not?  And did I not introduce them as being 23 years and 19 years of age?  And does that not make them all adults?  For that matter, you Sara are of legal age, and I certainly am.


    "The law generally requires at least two witnesses for any marriage, though I think you may have missed some of the fine print in your little book.  By the way, I''m having a full double-hand of copies made of it.  I''ve also instructed Paolo to mount a search for the other three volumes."


    She grinned widely.  "I''m sure that with his voluminous free time he''ll have no trouble fitting it into his schedule.  That''s hardly pertinent right now though.  At any rate, for a wedding involving minors of your ages, four adult witnesses are required.  We had six in the room, five besides myself, and I have so recorded it on each copy of your marriage certificate.


    "To be more precise, the law says that the witnesses must be present at the creation of the documents, not that they must be present at any particular ceremony, probably because we deal with so many different kinds of ceremonies here, what with having people from all over the world getting married.  Some of the ceremonies last for days.  You''d hardly want to force witnesses to stand around that long, right?


    "I wrote the marriage certificates while the witnesses were in the room, as specified in the law.  In one week Paolo will have you get together and he will sign and date them.  As I''ve already signed them, the stipulation that an archbishop must approve has already been met.  After that you will keep one and Paolo will give the other to Sara to be filed.


    "I trust that that will be satisfactory?"


    The twins nodded, stunned and overwhelmed.  They could hardly contain their excitement.  Married, and in only seven days.  It seemed like a dream.  As for Jason, he stood still and beamed.


    Sara walked over to the Archbishop, gestured at the large documents still on her desk, and asked, with an entirely straight face, "I presume that Your Grace wishes me to place these in her private files for the time being?"


    "You presume correctly Mrs. Donetti. Please do so at your earliest convenience."


    "It will be my pleasure Your Grace."


    Sara bowed.  The children bowed.  Then Lucina blessed them and excused them from the room.  One task was completed, a happy one for a change, but she still had work to do before she could go home and eat with her family.  She''d best get to it.

 Vol 2 - Ch 30 Not Quite There

    On the way back the three of them were so excited that they wanted to shout for joy.  However, having been forewarned by their mothers, their fathers, Paolo, and, finally Sara, they struggled to control themselves.


    As they walked, Sara marveled at how hard the children were working.  She could only imagine what it would have been like had she fallen for Paolo two years earlier than she had.  All she could do was shake her head in admiration.  These three were very, very special, and, as Paolo had earlier, she vowed to do her best to protect not only them but all other twins with special needs.


    "Just listen to me for a while.  You don''t need to answer.  Feel free to talk amongst yourselves, but you need to give me at least enough of your attention that you understand what I''ll say."


    They all nodded and moved a bit closer to her.


    "Right then.  First of all, both of your mothers will be escorting you to school tomorrow, separately.  Since you''ve missed the first four days of classes, they''ll tell your homeroom teacher that you''ve been ill and have seen the doctor, who has now cleared you to return to school.  They''ll make sure that at least some of the other kids are around and can overhear them, so the gossips will let everyone else know why you missed the first days of the new term."


    Sara chuckled as she remembered one particular gossip, but that was for later reminiscence.  "Don''t be surprised if someone asks you how close to death you were.  Gossip always worsens as it spreads.  Just tell them that it was nothing more than an early summer cold and that you feel fine now.  Don''t all of you say exactly the same thing though.  That would be suspicious.


    "I''m sorry Jason but this is one of those times you need to tell a lie to protect someone.  Do you understand."


    "Yes Sara, I do.  I learned about those last fall.  I''ll do as you ask."


    "Beyond that, just do what you always have.  Now, girls, since it''s safe for you to touch him, be careful not to overdo it.  No ''making up for lost time''.  That will be more suspicious than anything else.  You two are older than almost all your classmates, but girls at 14 aren''t stupid.  If you act overly clingy they''re going to start trying to figure out why.  Even if they''re wrong, any conclusion they come to will cause you problems.


    "If you can tolerate it without getting sick, move your desks about eight or 10 centimeters away from his instead of having them touch like you''ve done so far.  Your classmates will unconsciously think that you''re ''growing up'' and becoming more mature and less dependent.  That will help your reputation and enhance your safety."


    She smiled at all of them.  "I know.  I know.  That''s a lot to remember.  Consider it homework.  And, speaking of which, I have your work from the days you''ve missed.  Your Homeroom teacher sent it home with your mothers.  So, all three of you will have dinner at our house tonight.  Afterwards will be study time, until I''m satisfied that you''ve mastered it.


    "Then, since we''re not pretending any more, you may kiss Yoko and Hibiki once each, and only once.  No hormone attacks allowed until next week.  Capiche?"


    They all nodded, feigning disappointment.  A real kiss without being stressed out from worrying if someone might see them?  That wasn''t a restriction.  It was a treat!


    After that they all chatted normally about nothing in particular, mostly practicing sounding and acting normal.  They only had six more days to practice before the real test began.  Like all important tests in life, the passing grade would be 100%.  99% would be failure, and probably catastrophic.


    Dinner was enjoyable.  Jason even had fun playing with Consuela and Stavros for a bit before  homework called.  As they were themselves almost 11, they understood and left without complaining.  Their homework took less than an hour and a half.  When they had problems, Sara had a knack for quickly helping them find the answers, which shortened the work significantly.


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    Finally it was time to go home.  This time each girl was able to be alone with Jason for their kiss.  As promised they limited themselves to one each.  However, Sara hadn''t said how long the kiss should be, and they took full advantage of the loophole.


    Akane met Jason at the door.  Truth be told, she''d been hovering.  She''d heard through the Mimi-vine that things had gone swimmingly at the Cathedral of Whispers, but she wanted to hear the details directly from Jason.  Once he was inside, Jason looked casually left and right, then upstairs, scanning for other people. Seeing none he stepped forward, picked his mother up and swung her in a circle.  Then he put her down carefully, gave her a hug, and took himself upstairs before she could recover and say a single word.


    She was beyond surprised.  He''d never been spontaneous like this before.  She hadn''t even known that he could be spontaneous.  What surprised her most was that he had easily picked her up.  When had her little boy grown so tall and so strong?


    Kaho was still not back from work, and Rebecca was in her room finishing up her homework.  Sebastian had gone to bed immediately after dinner, as always.  He needed to be up by 4 A.M. so he could be at the main shop to start on the day''s baking.  That being the case, she hurried upstairs after Jason so she could catch him before he took his bath.  She wanted to hear what had happened while it was still fresh in his mind.


    An hour later she had what she felt was a good understanding of the situation, including Sara''s advice -- with which she wholeheartedly agreed.  By the end of her interrogation, Jason was looking a little draggy.  She excused herself so he could get his belated bath before bedtime.


    ---------------


    After dinner that evening, Miranda had pretended to supervise as things were cleaned up and neatened.  With Mimi and Sven there, she was completely unneeded, but the children wouldn''t interrupt her while she was standing in the dining room, which gave her time to think.  What she was thinking about was weddings, or rather one particular upcoming wedding.


    She''d already received two letters from Mario, ostensibly discussing the lovely spring weather, the flowers on the hillsides, and, not so incidentally, some rather vaguely worded comments about the flow of certain trade goods.  Interspersed were comments that would be meaningless to a stranger, but were clearly meant to refer to Eugenia.  In his cautions and round-about way, Mario was exploring the possibility of receiving her consent, and Robert''s, for them to be married.


    For Miranda it had been a foregone conclusion before Mario had left town.  She didn''t doubt for a minute that Robert felt the same.  It was probably going to take some time before he''d admit it though.  They were lucky in that when Paolo had married, he''d brought his wife with him.  By the time Eugenia was ready to leave the house, there''d be his first grandchild to help distract him.


    Let''s see.  Mario said he would be gone another two months.  He expected to be back around the eighth of August, give or take a week.  It would depend on whether or not a shipment arrived in Rimini on time.  Until it did, he''d be stuck there.  It would be much faster if the ship captain would deliver his cargo to Venice, but there was apparently some history of problems with certain officials there.  Ever since then, this particular captain would only land cargos at Rimini, so to Rimini he would go.  He closed his second letter by saying that a third would follow within the next two weeks.


    That night, before he could fall asleep, Manda rolled over and snuggled close to Robert.  "Sweetheart, it''s about time.  We need to decide what to do about Genie and Mario."


    "Tonight? He won''t be back for at least two months. I need to be up early to get ready for that meeting with the Austrians.  It looks like the Hapsburgs are expanding their territories again and that''s going to impact demands for loans."


    "Um, yes, probably tonight would be best even so.  So much is happening that we''d best get that settled before something else comes up to distract us."


    "Hah!  You''re extremely distracting already.  Ouch!  You didn''t need to pinch me."


    "Then keep your hands to yourself, at least for a while.  We need to talk first."  Just in case she grabbed his free hand to keep it in one place.


    "There really isn''t much to say, is there?  She loves him.  He loves her.  She''s smart, inquisitive, impulsive, and has a travel bug.


    "He''s smart, inquisitive, steady and calm, and he travels constantly.  They fit together extremely well, just like we do.  There''s really not much to think about.  Start making wedding plans as you see fit.  Frankly I''d rather grab him now, before some flashy, sweet-talking idiot convinces her to do something stupid."


    "While I don''t see that happening, you''re right.  It is at least remotely possible.  I''ll get started on the preliminaries some time in the next week.  Oh, and I suppose I should tell Eugenia that she''s getting married, don''t you think?"


    "That''s my wife.  You always think of everything."


    "My but you know how to sweet-talk a girl.  Now that we''ve decided on what to do..."  She let go of the hand she''d been restraining and nuzzled his neck.  "Feel free to continue from where you left off."

 Vol 2 - Ch 31 The wedding and Kahos gift

    As a precaution, the twins had slept with Genie one last time on Saturday, the 17th.  Their condition wasn''t all that bad, but it seemed a reasonable precaution.  Miranda did note that they slept 12 hours.


    Monday June 19 in The Year 724 After the Founding


    After school the trio went home, changed into their "good enough to go out to dinner with the family without embarassing your parents" clothes, and headed for the Donetti''s.  It was the only place large enough, and private enough, that they could have at least a tiny celebration without drawing attention from the neighbors.


    After some deliberation they''d decided to hold it in the conservatory.  The late afternoon sunlight streaming in through the glass ceiling gave everything and everyone a somewhat etherial effect.  The ceremony was simple.  Paolo stood with the twins on his left and Jason on his right.  A small table was brought forth whereupon he completed the marriage certificates and then signed them with a flourish.  The only witnesses were their parents, Robert, Miranda, Eugenia and, surprisingly, Kaho.


    Up to that point she''d evinced no interest in the preparations, but when they left for the Donetti''s, she''d attached herself at the end of the small procession heading up the hill.  When Jason had noticed her trailing along behind he had bluntly asked her why she was coming since she''d previously shown no interest in his, or for that matter anyone else''s, relationships.


    Her answer had been in her usual, taciturn manner, "You''ll see."


    Jason forbore from asking anything else.  Kaho rarely talked all that much anyway, and when she was like this, nothing would make her say more.


    After Paolo had signed the documents, he whispered to Jason, "Go ahead."


    Jason carefully walked around the table then, briefly and chastely, kissed each of the girls.  Next, as planned, the three of them stood in front of the table, facing the "audience" and held hands.  As they were moving into position, the light in the conservatory intensified. Jason looked at the twins and shrugged his shoulders.  Perhaps it was some sort of reflection off the clouds as the sun sank lower in the sky.  Such things happened now and then.


    What happened next couldn''t be explained so easily.  The color of the light changed from sunset orange to yellow, then green, then blue, and finally a swirling mix of every color imaginable, which then began to dance around the conservatory.  If one looked closely, one could see birds of varying colors, sizes, and patterns swooping down from the roof and around the newlyweds.  The display continued for several minutes then faded as the last rays of the sun retreated from the top of the building.


    This was followed by a soft thud from the back of the room that caused everyone to turn around.  What they beheld was Kaho slumped in a chair.  She was being supported from behind by Mimi while Ailin vigorously fanned her face with a small, oriental-style fan.  Kaho took several deep breaths then lifted her face and opened her mouth.  No sounds came out.  She tried again, no luck.  She turned to Mimi and gestured limply with her right hand.


    Mimi nodded, seemingly listening to something.  Then she straightened and addressed the stunned group in front of her, "Miss Kaho says that this was her wedding gift to her beloved brother and his wives.   She regrets, at least a little, having been so hard on him while they were growing up, but she felt that it was her duty as an older sister to make up for the way others tried to ''protect'' him from the world outside.  To some extent, the display we were just privledged to see was an apology as well as a gift.   I believe that is the gist of what she wishes to communicate."


    Kaho lifted her head and nodded weakly.  Ailin had exchanged the fan for a large glass of sweetened tea, which Kaho gulped down, ignoring the usual constraints of propriety when one is in the presence of one''s elders.


    It was Akane who stammered, "But...but...how?"


    Mimi responded with a "how could you not know" tone of voice, "Because she''s a Lightweaver of course."


    Everyone looked at those nearest them, hoping that one of them would have an inkiling of what a "Lightweaver" was.  All of them saw looks just as blank as their own.


    Ailin''s velvety voice felt almost like a warm blanket being spread across the room.  Later the members of the Macklin household compared notes, and were astonished to discover that the only time any of them had previously heard her speak more than four words was the morning after the girls had slept with Genie for the first time.


    What she said was, "Lightweavers are very rare, highly prized, and are always in great danger once their abilities become known.  Over the centuries many have been kidnapped and forced to put on displays such as you just saw.  Every one of them has died young due to being forced to exhaust themselves over and over again for the amusement of their captors.  You all can see what Kaho''s efforts just now have done to her.


    "Lightweavers have one other skill.  It is much less known, fortunately, as it can be even more exhausting and would be in even higher demand.  They are healers.  Even serious wounds and near fatal illnesses can be cured, or at least helped substantially.  The drain on their bodies however is extremely high if it is more than a trivial problem.  Were it to be generally known, most Lightweavers would not live past the age of 20.


    "That is why Kaho has not revealed this to anyone.  Today she has given you all the greatest gift one person can give another.  She has placed her life in your hands, trusting that none of you will ever betray her secret."


    Stunned silence filled the room.  It was interrupted by the faint sound of the twins slippers sliding on the stone pavers, accompanied by the somewhat louder sound of Jason''s shoes.  Yoko and Hibiki knelt on either side of Kaho and took her hands.  Jason walked behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.


    All three closed their eyes.  Nothing happened for a few seconds, but then a faint glow could be seen outlining them.  It gathered itself across their shoulders then flowed down their arms to, and then into Kaho.  After about 20 seconds Jason murmured, "I think that''s all we can safely spare."  At that point the glowing stopped and the three stepped back from Kaho then embraced each other.  It wasn''t in an affectionate manner but was rather a position where they were supporting each other as a means of maintaining their balance.


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    Mimi, Sven, and Ailin appeared behind them with three more chairs, which they put to use immediately.  Sven left.  Mimi and Ailin looked at each other and appeared to be communicating in some fashion, after which they stepped back and resumed their positions on either side of and just inside the doorway to the house.


    The trio looked a bit drained, but no more than that.  Kaho, on the other hand, looked much improved.  She was now sitting upright and appeared to have much of her energy back.  "Well, how about that?  I''m feeling much better.  Thank you."


    She stood, Mimi removed the chair, then Kaho was engulfed by her parents who were "hugging the stuffing out of her."


    She was heard, by those closest to her, to mutter, "Not so tight. I need to breathe."


    Jason in particular was surprised.  He couldn''t recall ever hearing Kaho say so much in a day as she had in the past five minutes.  Regardless, once their parents had released her, Jason stepped up and hugged her as well, carefully not squeezing too hard.   He was followed by the twins who said, "Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.  We never expected to have any particular memories of our wedding day, what with it needing to be so secretive.  You''ve given us a gift that will fill us for the rest of our lives."


    They had just manifested one of the rarest of twin talents, seen only in those who were exceptionally close.  Nobody around them knew which girl had said what part of what they''d just heard, or even if they had been speaking at the same time.  It didn''t really matter though.  They''d just spoken for everyone in the room.  Each, in their own way, stored what they had just seen in the deepest, most important part of their memories.


    Mimi gave everyone a minute to absorb the events then announced, "Dinner is served."


    They all obediently trooped into the dining room where they were again surprised.  There was a buffet laid out, as they had expected, but, somehow, the dishes included the absolute favorite of every single person in the room, even Kaho.


    They were all tired and, to tell the truth, emotionally exhausted as well.  They''d all been involved in a complex, secretive plot that had spanned several weeks.  Rather than wonder how some of the ingredients, which were definitely not in season, had been obtained, they fell to and devoured the offerings.


    Afterwards, the guests thanked the staff profusely.  Thet were surprised, and touched when Sven spoke for all of them, "We love them too."


    Rather than the hurried, secretive ceremony, everyone had expected, they were instead absolutely certain that they had just attended one of the most wonderful weddings of their lives.  Since the next day was a school day, things broke up fairly early.  There was still homework and, for the adults, paperwork to be dealt with.


    --------------------


    When they got home, Blair turned to Hiroshi, "That was wonderful, wasn''t it?"


    Before Hiroshi could speak, she was answered by Yoko''s voice, "It certainly was.  We''ll never forget it."


    Blair spun around, "Wha...what are you two doing here.  I thought...."


    "Ya thought that we''d be spending the night with Jason.  If ya stop and think about it, that would be foolish."


    Hibiki continued, "We have homework due tomorrow.  We are all tired.  There would be hell to pay if anyone saw us leaving Jason''s house in the morning.  We also do not want to have to explain to our friends at school why we looked like we had not had any sleep and why our clothes were wrinkled."


    Yoko added, "Besides, we need ta get in the habit of planning things properly.  So...  Mimi''s told us that Rebecca will be invited to a sleepover at a friend''s house for Friday night.  Sometime during the week a change of our clothes will find itself in Mrs. Fukui''s wardrobe.


    "We''ll have dinner there Friday, but we won''t be coming home.  When we leave after lunch on Saturday, anyone passing by will think that we''ve come by to pick up Jason and go on an outing, just like we''ve done almost every Saturday for the past year."


    Hibiki purred, "Besides, we probably will not be waking up before 10 anyway."


    Blair did a double take.  Somehow she''d never noticed this side of Hibiki.  She looked at Yoko, who looked like she''d also be purring, were she able.  She decided that, along with the birth control information she''d already shared with her daughters, there were some other facets of intimate relations that she''d better discuss with them before Friday.


    "All right then girls.  I can''t fault your reasoning.  However, let''s expand our, your, options somewhat. I''m sure we can arrange for a small wardrobe to be placed somewhere in Jason''s home.  We''ll just make sure that you each have several outfits there that you can mix and match, as well as several pair of shoes.


    "We''ll do the same for Jason, but he can share with your father."  She pouted at Hiroshi.  "I know that he doesn''t use half of his wardrobe, but he won''t let me use the empty part."


    "HAH!  If I did that, before I knew it, I''d be dressing myself from a box on the floor after you''d taken over the entire wardrobe."


    Blair stammered, "I would never..."


    "Oh yes you would and we both know it.  I''ll happily share with Jason.  He won''t try to push me out of my own wardrobe like you would."


    Hiroshi stroked his chin.  "Yes, that will work.  Guiseppi and Robert will probably notice, eventually.  We''ll just let it be know that since Jason will be coming over for classes more often, we decided that it would be advisable for him to have some extra clothes here to change into rather than having to go home while he''s still sweaty and smelly."


    "Dear, is Jason going to be taking more classes from you?"


    "Of course he is.  Didn''t I just say so?  No man who is married to my daughters is going to be unable to properly protect them."


    He looked down at Hibiki.  "You told me that, after those thugs attacked you, Jason said that his wrist was sore.  Correct?"


    "Yes Daddy.  Why?"


    "A palm strike, when properly delivered, even if you do break the opponents ribs, should NEVER leave you with a sore wrist.  That''s proof that he needs to improve his technique.  He had to have either struck at the wrong angle, or he was holding his hand in an improper position.


    "After another six months or so, he won''t make that mistake again.  So, yes, he''s going to need to have extra clothes here."


    Yoko drawled, "Daddy...you...are...one devious person."


    She pretended to think for a while.  "But then you are a spy, so I guess that''s a given."


    Then she stuck her tongue out at him, after which the girls ran, shrieking like little kids, up the stairs.  They wanted to hurry up and finish their homework.  That would give them plenty of time for their bath.  They wanted to go over everything that had happened today, probably several times.  A long soak followed by talking until they fell asleep should take care of that nicely.


    --------------


    At Jason''s home a similar situation played out, though it was much shorter.  When Sebastian asked Jason why he wasn''t with the twins, all he said was, "Ailin and Mimi have arranged things.  The girls will be spending the night here Friday.  Rebecca will be at a friends for a sleepover."


    Then he went upstairs and did his homework.  Though he''d never shown any signs of being a romantic, he too wanted a long soak before bed.  Most of the time none of their parents remembered that he didn''t have to be with the girls to talk to, and see them should they allow it.  After he''d revealed that he could see them when they were concentrating intently on something, they''d worked at controlling it.  Now it only happened when they wanted it to.  When he finally drifted off, he was more than satisfied with how the day had gone.

 Vol 2 - Ch 31 Anticipation

    The week didn''t fly by, nor did it crawl.  It proceeded fairly normally.  Late afternoon Tuesday, at Mimi''s suggestion, the parents had met and had agreed.  If they let it be known that the twins and Jason were engaged, nobody would be likely to pay any attention to any minor slip-ups.  In particular any accidental reference to "our husband" or "my wives" would probably be written off as due to anticipation rather than anything more significant.


    Just in case, Paolo checked the records at the Church of the Placid Heart.  He found dozens of recent records of engagements lasting as long as three, and in a very few cases four years.  Many of these involved girls as young as 13 and boys of 14.  There were probably many more, as each church kept such records internally, and there was no requirement to record an engagement with a church in the first place.


    When they heard, the reaction of their friends and classmates had ranged from: "What took you so long?" to "How about that?" to "So what?"  Several, of both sexes, somehow found time when the three were separated briefly to approach with a knowing leer and ask, "Have you done it yet?"  The answer was always in the same vein: "We understand that not everyone thinks like we do, but we''ve decided that, for us, not having sex until after being married is best."  Some nodded in agreement, some were astonished that they weren''t taking advantage of the situation, and some walked away thinking about what they''d just heard.


    Friday passed like every other day of the week.  After school the girls went home to change.  Jason arrived to "invite" them to dinner shortly after five, whereupon they strolled to his home.  Rebecca had already left for her friend''s home, excited to be going to her first sleepover. Kaho would be out late working and probably wouldn''t be home till around midnight.


    After dinner Akane and Sebastian said their goodnights.  Since Saturday tended to be his busiest day of the week, Seb needed to be up earlier than usual, at 3:30 a.m.  Akane had papers to grade and a lesson plan to work on, so she withdrew to her study.  The trio retired upstairs, and thereafter silence reigned in the house.


    -----------------------


    Genie had gone to bed early.  It was probably still only around around 9 p.m.  "Master Hiroshi" had worked her hard in the dojo that evening, and she was beat.  Suddenly she found herself back on her feet in a guard stance in the middle of her room.  It sounded as if a cat in heat were yowling loud enough to summon every tomcat in town, but it was in her head instead of outdoors.  Accompanying that was wave after wave of intense emotion, crashing over her like they were trying to toss her off her feet and sweep her away.  For a moment she thought she was going crazy until Hibiki''s barely coherent voice exclaimed, "I''m sorry Genie!  I won the rock-paper-scissors so I''m first.  I forgot to block you out."


    Instantly the emotional assault ceased, and Genie found herself panting in the middle of her room.  Oh my God!  If that was what she thought it was...  There really wasn''t any doubt, was there?  Suddenly she remembered Mario and the alley, and ached for him to hurry back.  After what just happened she didn''t know how she was going to survive until he arrived, and he wasn''t due for another seven weeks.  Hibiki must have warned Yoko at some point because there was no second assault.  Still it was two fitful hours later that she was finally able to drift off to sleep and even then only because there was an oddly comforting purring coming from somewhere.


    ----------------


    Hibiki''s original prediction had been off, if only a little.  They didn''t awaken until 11 the next morning.  Jason''s first thought was that he could easily get used to this.  The twins were warm and felt good cuddled up against him.  Besides he really liked the way their hair smelled.


    Without thinking he began to stroke them, only to find his hands gently slapped away.  "None of that mister.  I''d think you''d be worn out after last night.  Well, that''s what we''d say if we didn''t feel the same way you do.  BUT we have a schedule and, if you will, a performance to put on for the unwitting public.  Don''t you want to spend the day with us -- outside!  There are things to see, food to eat, gifts to buy.  So get your lazy butt in gear and get up."


    Before he could even begin to respond, each of the twins rolled over in turn and gave him a lingering kiss.  Then, giggling all the way, they sprang out of bed and began to get ready for breakfast.  What could he do but follow suit?  Besides, his stomach was growling, and he definitely smelled syrup.  It seemed that pancakes were on the menu today, and he dearly loved pancakes.  As he got himself ready, he realized that his mother had probably done that intentionally to make sure they didn''t dawdle.


    It was a little after noon when they finally went outside, and a fine day it was.  There were lovely, fluffy clouds in an otherwise clear blue sky.  It was warm but the day didn''t promise to get hot.  Normally it wasn''t until July and August that there''d be more than a few days in a row that were truly uncomfortable.


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    They had a glorious time.  They didn''t do anything that they hadn''t before, but everything seemed to be more in focus.  All in all, Jason decided that being married was going to turn out rather well.


    All he heard in response to his thoughts was, "Well duh!"


    ---------------------------


    The days flew by for the twins and Jason, but plodded interminably for Genie.  The first week of August a letter from Mario arrived.  Once she was in her room she ripped off the sealing wax and eagerly unfolded it.  There was only one word, and it looked as if it had been scrawled hurriedly.  All it said was, DELAYED.  After staring at it for a good minute, she realized that a consultation was in order.  Fortunately her mother was home, so she strode to her office and knocked.


    "Enter."


    "Mother, I think there may be a situation."


    "Explain."


    Genie handed over the letter.  Both of Miranda''s eyebrows rose.  Genie''s sense of foreboding was getting worse by the minute.  Obviously her mother knew something she didn''t.


    Miranda stared at Genie, willing her to leave.  Clearly something was going on that she believed was none of Genie''s business.


    Genie stared right back, assuming, quite rightly, that anything involving Mario also involved her, at least to some degree.


    Finally Miranda relented. "Oh all right you irritating wench.  I guess you should know."


    Tapping her cheek with her fan she mumbled, "Where to start?


    "Aaaah, I''m overthinking.  It''s really quite simple.  The Pope has placed an embargo on Venice.  It''s some sort of political maneuvering.  The King is doing his best to stay out of it.  He''s having some sort of minor dispute with the French right now and doesn''t want to be diverted by what is basically an internal trade war as long as it doesn''t involve HIS trade.  But, the King''s long term interests align more with the secular world, thus he''s supporting Venice from behind the scenes.  Things in general have been a mess since Sixtus bought himself the Pontificate and started appointing every relative he could think of as a cardinal and granting the rest lucrative supply contracts.  There''s no benefit in getting rid of him; someone at least as noisome will take his place, and we understand how this one works.


    "Mario has picked up some crucial items that Venice needs for, well, that part you don''t need to know.  Let''s just say that he''s smuggling items that the Pope has declared contraband into Venice.  After that his plans were to return here in time for your wedding on September third."


    Into the astonished silence Miranda spoke, mostly to herself, "He''d best be here on time.  It''s awfully hard to hold a wedding without a groom."


    Genie finally found her voice and sputtered, "We..we...wedding?  What wedding?  What in the name of all that''s holy are you talking about?"


    "What do you mean Genie?  I can''t see how you could misinterpret what I said.  The wedding where you''re going to marry Mario."


    Incredulity flashed across her face.  "Don''t tell me that you''ve changed your mind and you don''t want to marry him!"


    "Of course I want to marry him!  But don''t you think that a girl normally needs to be proposed to before you plan a wedding?  He never said a single word to me."


    Miranda opened the right, bottom drawer of her desk and withdrew a sheaf of papers.  "My dear girl, are you daft?  He proposed to us over six weeks ago.  I must admit that it was rather sweet, him asking our permission.  Not many young men do that any more."


    Surprise flitted across her face and settled in an expression you could best call gobsmacked. "You don''t mean to tell me that he didn''t propose to you before he left?  I was sure he must have when you came home that night with your clothes mussed and the trio grinning their heads off.


    Genie''s face took on a reddish hue. "Oh...that....I...ah...thought you hadn''t noticed."


    Miranda wagged a finger at her daughter.  "Me?  Not notice something.  You are daft.  Of course I noticed.  How could I not?


    I must admit that I took a great deal of pleasure in seeing his look of total frustration when he spun around and left."  Her expression changed to a knowing leer.  "I suppose that the trio must have stopped you before you got all that far."


    Genie''s blush reached new heights.  She squatted and buried her face in her knees.


    Miranda continued in an analytical tone, "The physical side of a relationship is very important you know.  More so in the beginning, as you''re usually still getting to know each other, though the need for some sort of physical intimacy rarely disappears entirely.


    "Just make sure that you don''t become overly-enthusiastic and rip his clothes off the moment he returns.  I''d hate to have to try to explain scratches when he''s having his fittings."


    Genie, who had been in the process of standing, once more sank to her knees.  She didn''t surface for several minutes, during which Miranda worked through some papers that she''d been meaning to read.


    When Genie showed signs of recovering Miranda said, "Your first fitting for your dress will be in three days.  Your father has already arranged for the reception hall.  We won''t have much time to fit Mario''s clothes, but then he''s handsome enough that he''ll look good in almost anything."


    Genie realized that her assessment of her mother months ago had been correct.  "Oni" fit her exceedingly well.


    Neverthless she stood and strode closer to her mother''s desk.  "I''m not entirely sure whether I want to hug you or throw you across the room.  Until I decide, I''ll be in my room.  Good evening to you Mother."


    After she''d left and closed the door Miranda muttered to herself, "My.  Such an excitable girl."  She resumed plowing through her paperwork.  It seemed that no matter what one did, there was always more paperwork than there was time to deal with it.

 Vol 2 - Ch 32 Despair

    August 27 in The Year 724 After the Founding


    It was fairly late in the afternoon when a cab pulled up in front of the Donetti home.  A rather bedraggled looking, obviously malnourished, young man paid the cabbie and then painfully descended, leaning heavily on a walking stick.


    Before he could knock, the door opened and Mimi offered her arm.  "I''m pleased to see you...but not in this condition."     Looking more carefully at his face she whispered, "Oh dear."


    Seconds later Ailin was there.  Each of the maids took one of his arms over their shoulders and half-carried him down the hall to the large bathing room in the back of the building.


    When he''d arrived, Genie had stuck her head over the railing ringing the balcony, as she''d done every time the door had opened lately, hoping against hope that this time it would be Mario.  They''d expected him back almost three weeks earlier.  Seeing that it was finally him, she''d started to call out to him, only to find the words caught in her throat when she saw his face and then Ailin appear to join Mimi.


    She rushed down the stairs then down the hall only to find the door to the bathing room closing in her face after Mimi said, "Not now."


    Immediately she fled upstairs to her mother''s office and threw open the doors.  Before Miranda could reprimand her she blurted out, "Mario''s here, but something is terribly wrong!  He looks awful.   Mimi and Ailin took him to the large bathing room and won''t let me see him!"


    Miranda didn''t run.  She never ran.  She always said that it was completely and totally undignified and that one always had time to walk, albeit sometimes briskly if the situation so required.  For someone not running, it was remarkable that she still managed to reach the door of the bathing room on the floor below in less than eight seconds.


    Once admitted she also closed and latched the door behind her, leaving Genie fuming and terrified outside.


    Less than a minute later Miranda opened the door, commanded, "Get Jason, the twins, and Kaho, immediately," then slammed it shut again.


    Genie tore toward the front door, then bonked herself on the head, hard.  She strode to an alcove to the right of the front door and leaned against the wall.  "Jason, Biki, Yoko, EMERGENCY.  Mario is here and something awful has happened.  Mother says to come right away and to bring Kaho as well."


    There was a short delay then she heard a triple echo, "Coming," "On our way," "I''ll bring Kaho, but I need to get some clothes on her first."


    For the next 15 minutes Genie alternated between peering out the window in the alcove and pacing down the hall and trying the door to the bathroom, which remained infuriatingly locked.


    Everyone arrived in a rush.  Genie lead the way to the bathroom.  This time the door was opened by Mimi.  She let the others in and made as if to restrain Genie but changed her mind and stepped aside.


    Genie hurried in and beheld a man in the soaking pool.  She knew it was Mario, but she barely recognized him.  To say he was gaunt was to be generous.  He was perspring profusely, far beyond what could be attributed to the heat.


    Hearing all the feet, he''d looked up.  When he espied Genie he croaked, "I''m sorry my love.  I know I should have spared you this, but I guess I''m much too selfish.  I wanted to see you before...well...."


    He pointed to his right leg.  It was somewhat distorted by being under water but all present could see the rotting flesh just above the knee and the deep red streaks running up the thigh to his groin.


    Genie''s hands flew to her mouth and smothered her gasp, "OH NO!"  She forced herself to stand tall and look at Mario, but tears were streaming down her face. and she was shaking violently.  Nobody ever survived something like this.  He probably had a day, maybe two at most.


    Kaho however was looking at him clinically and entirely without emotion, "Mimi, how long has he been in the water."


    "Not quite 30 minutes."


    "All right.  Here''s what we''ll do.  Jason, you go find Sven and bring in that massage table of theirs.  A few months ago Genie mentioned that she saw one once when she was little.  They should still have it.  No Donetti in history has ever thrown away something that might be useful someday."


    She turned to Miranda.  "I trust that hasn''t changed?"


    "No, it''s still here somewhere."


    Jason didn''t wait for further instructions.  He hurried out to find Sven.


    Genie had approached the pool.  She stripped off everything but her t-shirt and shorts then joined Mario, sitting to his left, holding his hand, and gazing into his eyes..


    Kaho motioned for the twins to follow her and stepped out into the hall.  "I''m sure that, with your help like at the wedding, I can stop the infection.  But healing that wound is another thing.  Oh, I can probably get it to close up, and get new skin to grow over the hole, but I have no idea how to put the muscles and tendons back together.  I''ve never seen someone''s insides before, just drawings.  I doubt that he''ll ever walk without a cane or crutch after this.


    "Still, if Genie is as tough as I think she is, she won''t care as long as Mario is alive and with her."


    Yoko and Hibiki had a very brief "twin" conversation, and included Jason.  Then Biki spoke, "Every since we married, we have been able to do things better than before.  For your purposes that means we can feed you more energy than we did last time.  Hopefully that will at least keep you from getting so worn out as you did at our wedding."


    The twins wrapped their arms around Kaho and Yoko added, "We really didn''t get ta thank ya properly then ya know.  You were still too tired and we weren''t sure you''d remember, so we''ll do it right now.  Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts."


    Kaho wrapped an arm around each of them.  "You''re good kids.  Looks like Jason got himself hooked up with the right women."


    "I hate to interrupt you, but we should perhaps be moving on."


    The three young women turned toward the voice, which was Ailin''s.  "While you do not understand the structure of joints, muscle, and tendons well enough yet, we do.  When you repair his leg, we also will merge with you and provide you with energy.  It is likely that it will still not be enough to heal it completely, but we think that, probably, he will be able to walk unaided, though with some degree of a limp."


    Kaho nodded.  "That''s encouraging."


    Shortly thereafter Sven and Jason arrived and slowly maneuvered the massage table around the corner and through the door.


    Kaho consulted her internal clock, meaning that she asked Mimi, "How long has it been?"


    "Forty-three minutes."


    "Good.  That should be long enough.  The healing properties of the water should have cleaned out the superficial putrefaction and given us a clean wound bed.   All right everyone, let''s join the others and get to work."


    Once inside again, Kaho instructed Jason and Sven to lift Mario and place him on the massage table, which had been covered with towels.   Mario winced several times but made no sounds until he was properly on the table.  Then he turned to the twins, winked, and rasped, "Please do me a favor.  Don''t tell Genie...that you saw me naked.  On our wedding night, I want her to think...that she''s the only one."  Then he sank back, either asleep or unconscious.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.    Kaho began giving instructions,  "Mrs. Donetti, Eugenia, and Sven, please leave.  We don''t need you, and you''d only be distractions.  And close the door behind you."


    She turned to Genie and stamped her foot.  "You heard me Genie.   You have a choice, stay here and possibly interfere with his healing, or go out and let us be about our work."


    Genie looked resentful, momentarily, then she strode to Kaho, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed her on the cheek.  She hadn''t realized it before, but Kaho was even taller than her mother, and her mother was the tallest woman she''d ever seen.  After that she left without a backward glance closing the door behind her.


    Kaho turned to the others.  "All right then. I think I know what we need to do.  Mimi, Ailin, if I say it wrong, please let me know."


    They nodded, and Kaho continued, "I''ll stand on his right side.  I''ll put my right hand about 8 centimeters below his knee, and my left hand over his groin.  Jason, you do what you did before and stand behind me with your hands on my shoulders but this time I also want Yoko sandwiched between us, with her hands under yours.  Mimi and Ailin will stand across the table from me.  Ailin put your right hand on my left, and Mimi put your left hand on my right.  Hibiki will stand between you and hold your other hands.


    "The first thing I''ll do is concentrate on clearing the infection.  Since we''ll be connected from the beginning this time, instead of only afterwards like at the wedding, go ahead and feed me right away.   I''m not lying when I say that this is going to be very hard.  I don''t entirely know what to do, and I''m going to have to make adjustments as I go."


    She looked at Mimi and Ailin.  "I trust that you''ll direct the repairs of the tendons and muscle?"


    They nodded.  "You presume correctly.  Unfortunately we cannot ourselves heal.  All we can do is guide and give to you of our energies."


    Kaho answered softly, "That''s a lot more than I expected.  Thank you."


    Then more briskly, "All right then, let''s get started."


    They all positioned themselves.  Nothing happened at first, but slowly and tentatively a faint glow began to cover the leg between Kaho''s hands.  It wasn''t long however before the light became so bright that the twins, Jason, and, finally Kaho had to close their eyes.


    Because their eyes were closed against the glare, they never knew that first Mimi''s and then Ailin''s eyes began to glow a bright lavender and that, shortly thereafter, their entire bodies took on the same hue and almost faded to transparency.


    Those waiting anxiously outside heard not a sound, but flashes of multi-colored light leaked from under the door where it didn''t seal completely.


    "Mother what do you..."


    Genie''s words were blocked by Miranda laying her finger across Genie''s lips and shaking her head.  Genie nodded, wrapped herself around her mother''s left arm, then buried her face against her shoulder.  Miranda used her right hand to gesture for Sven to leave.  He wasn''t needed any longer, and Genie needed some privacy while she cried.


    He nodded and paced back down the hall.  He''d be ready for however he was needed in the future.


    For those inside the room, the concept of time became meaningless.  For the rest of their lives they couldn''t have told you if it was five minutes or an hour.  Genie forever after swore that they were in there for at least two hours.  Miranda, even though she was less involved, didn''t have a clear idea either.  It was like she was being blocked from thinking about it.


    However long it took, like all things, it eventually ended.  Mimi and Ailin returned to solidity, the light faded, and almost everyone opened their eyes, including Mario.  The one exception was Kaho who was leaning half her weight on Mario''s leg.


    She straightened up and exclaimed, "That wasn''t nearly as bad as I''d thought it might be!"  She turned to her left, took a step forward, and her knees buckled.  Fortunately Jason was still right behind her and caught her before she hit the tiled floor.


    He maneuvered her into a chair in the corner of the room where she sat, looking slightly comfused, but clearly not nearly as exhausted as she was after her performance at the wedding.


    Mimi, who looked disgustingly normal, retrieved a towel and covered Mario''s privates but left his right leg fully exposed.


    Ailin opened the door and stood back.  Genie rushed in, followed by Miranda who walked with a deliberate pace, as always.     When she saw Mario, Genie gasped.  The streaks that had been running up his leg were gone.  The crater where the wound had been looked to be about 90% filled in, and there was now healthy looking skin covering the area.


    From the corner Kaho said,  "Some was in his lungs.  We cleared that out too."


    Then she added, "Food.  Now please."  She looked at Mimi, Ailin, then the twins and Jason.  "It would seem only for the four of us."


    The maids exited.   Kaho stood up and tested her balance.


    Nodding to herself, she approacted Mario, "Everyone except Genie out.  I need to examine him, and a patient deserves privacy when it''s possible."


    Jason smiled.  "You sound just like a doctor."


    "What do you mean little brother, I AM a doctor."


    There was surprise and shock on the face of everyone in the room.


    "What are you staring at?  Did you think I was just sitting in my room these past four years since I graduated?  I completed my medical training this June.  I''m still working with my preceptor.  There''s a lot about herbs I still don''t know.  You''ll all meet him soon.  We''ll be doing Mario''s rehabilitation at his place just like Darci did."


    Seeing blank faces, she explained, "You know Jason, Darci Witherspoon, the girl I was tutoring a while back."


    "OH.  I thought she was your girlfriend."


    "My girlfriend?  Why''d you think that?"


    Jason blushed.  "I saw you kissing her.  So I figured..."


    Kaho laughed, "Congratulations, you''re just like everyone else.  You''ve become an expert at jumping to conclusions.  The reason I was tutoring her at home was because she had a chronic illness.  Her  monthlys were too heavy and too long.  She was very gradually bleeding to death.


    "She likes girls, not boys, so when she wanted to kiss me I figured, why not?  It wasn''t unpleasant, and I could slip in some healing without her noticing.


    "It took me several weeks after that to figure out what was wrong.  I told you that I''m still not great at internal anatomy and such.  It turned out that there was nothing wrong with her uterus.  The problem was that some itty bitty things in her bone marrow, they''re called ''cells'', weren''t working right.  When I realized what the problem was, I took her to my preceptor.  We fixed it so they''ll function properly from now on.  It hardly took any energy at all, what with them being so small.


    "That''s why she doesn''t come over any more."


    "Oh.  I see.  I thought..."


    "That I was a lesbian.  You made that pretty clear.  In trurth, I''m not against being with a girl, but I''m not against being with a man either."


    She rested her chin on her fist for a while then said, "Actually, I''m not particularly interested in either.  I''m probably one of those people I learned about during my training.  We''re called ''neuters''.  It''s pretty rare, probably because we almost never have children."


    Seeing puzzled faces all around, she clarified, "Neuter is like a gelding, but without having had the surgery."


    Enlightenment dawned.  So that''s what it was.


    A masculine voice drifted up to them, "That''s all very interesting and all, but do you suppose I could get up and put on some clothes?"


    Oh, right, Mario.


    Genie, who had been holding his hand ever since she came back into the room, bent over and gave him a kiss, after which she looked to Kaho.  "The answer to your question my love is probably, no?"


    Kaho nodded, then spoke one more time,  "All this talking is really wearing me out.  I''ve probably used up enough words for a month.  My throat is dry too, so that''s the end."


    For the rest of the day, nobody heard a sound from her.


    She herded the others out the door and closed it.  After she completed her examination, Kaho opened the door and gestured for Genie to call the others back in.


    Jason and Genie carried Mario back to the soaking pool.  Genie was going to join him, but Kaho took her arm and pulled her out of the room, after gesturing for Jason to stay.  Then she pointed at the clock and made a waving motion.


    Jason nodded.  Another half hour of soaking before they could get out.  Just as they settled down, Mimi appeared and set down a tall mug of incredibly sweet tea by each of them.   Over the next half hour, they sat and soaked in silence, broken only by Jason occasionally awakening Mario and making him drink some more of the tea.


    When the time was up, Kaho reappeared with Mimi in tow.  The three of them got Mario up and dressed in some new clothes, his previous outfit now being just a pile of shredded rags as a result of them cutting him out of what he had been wearing when he arrived.


    He was extremely weak and required two people to support him while they got him down the hall to the kitchen.  There he was fed a hearty soup and a bit of bread.  After half a bowl Kaho called a halt.  She wanted to make sure that it stayed down.  If it didn''t, Cook would likely be after them with the largest knife he had.


    Genie was banned again.  Mimi had told her, "Miss Kaho says that until you can control not only your emotions, but your body''s reaction to them, you are not to be anywhere near him.  If he sees you worrying about him, he''ll be too busy thinking of you to take proper care of himself."


    After half an hour passed with no signs of problems, Mario was allowed to finish his meal.  By then he was so groggy that he was swaying slightly at the table, so Sven picked him up and carried him to one of the guest rooms.  He was asleep even before the sheet could be put over him.


    Kaho performed another quick check then returned to the others.  Once more she gestured at Mimi who reported, "His breathing and color are normal.  He''ll recover.  How well remains to be seen.  That will depend on how much residual damage there is and how hard he works to build back up the muscle that remains.


    "He won''t be ready to be turned over to Master Hiroshi for several weeks, at least.  He will however, probably, be well enough to get through the wedding without falling on his face."


    Wedding?  There''s to be a wedding?  Jason and the twins had a quick conversation in "twin".  None of them had heard anything about it.


    They sent a quick query to Genie, which basically was, "GIVE!"


    "Oh that.  I guess I forgot to mention it.  It seems that we''re getting married next month.  Actually, it will be a week from today.  Uh. Can you come?"


    The twins shrieked and jumped on her.  Kaho sat back with a happy smile.  After this, there were only two more to go.  Then the primary linkages  would finally be complete.

 Vol 2 - Ch 32

    Sunday August 28, the Year 724 After the Founding


    Mario slept until almost noon the next day, rising only to be assisted to the toilet and then drink another large mug of sweetened tea.   When he did awaken, it was because of his nose.  Without opening his eyes he said, "I remember that scent.  The first time I smelled it was the day I met you.  I''ll treasure that moment for the rest of my life."


    He turned his head to see her with her elbows on the edge of the bed.  She was holding his hand to her cheek with both of her hands.


    "Welcome home beloved.   You shouldn''t make a girl wait so long you know.  Somebody might get the idea that you didn''t want to marry me and that you were running away."


    There were tears in her eyes, which made her even more beautiful.


    "Not to worry.  You caught me fair and square, so I won''t try to get away.  That would be cheating."  He rolled up on his left side, surprised at how weak he felt.  Even so he was still able to lay his right palm on Genie''s cheek, "I''m home."


    Suddenly he sat bolt upright.  "Oh my God!   I didn''t check the shipment before I came up the hill.  What if...."


    He was silenced by Genie''s finger across his lips.  "Darn it.  Nobody was willing to take my bet, probably because everyone knew I was right when I said that was the first thing you''d worry about.  And you don''t need to.  Worry that is.  Alicia sent word that she and Aldus made sure that the inventory matched  your mainfest.  Everything''s been properly stored in the warded bins too."


    Mario leaned back onto his elbows.  "Thank God.  There''d be hell to pay if anything was missing from this shipment.  Everything was for the Duchess and the Guard."


    Genie pulled back the covers then helped him sit up on the side of the bed.  "Any dizziness love?"


    Seeing Mario shake his head, she moved around to his right side.  "Let''s see how much weight you can put on your leg.  We might as well find out now."


    First the left leg down, then they stood up.  Gradually he put more and more weight on the right until the twinges became actual pain.  It was better than he''d feared.  Much better seeing as he''d expected to be dead by now.  He was able to put about 3/4 of his usual weight on the foot.


    "Well, it could be worse.  Will you give me a hand Genie?  I need to at least thank your parents for letting me use the room."


    Genie snorted.  "As if that''s a problem.  In case you forgot, in six days this will be your home too."


    "It will?  Mario looked bewildered.  "What in the world are you talking about?"


    A concerned look passed across Genie''s face, and she laid the back of her hand on his forehead.  "You don''t seem to have a fever.  I don''t know anything else that would make you forget something so important.  Come on, let''s hurry.  We can send someone to ask Kaho what it might be."


    As she tugged on his sleeve, he leaned back to keep his balance and also to stay in one place.  "There''s nothing at all wrong with my memory, so tell me.  What happens in six days?"


    Looking at him in exasperation, Genie snarled, "Our wedding you idiot!  You know, the one scheduled for this coming Saturday."


    Mario swayed and might have fallen had Genie not caught him.  She was terrified that he might be having some sort of seizure.  Her trepidation increased when he began to mutter incoherently.


    Torn between staying with him to make sure that he didn''t hurt himself, and running for help, she began to recognize a particular cadence to the sounds he was making.  Relief shot through her.  He wasn''t having a seizure, he was cursing.  As she listened further, it appeared to be in several languages.


    Her first reaction after her relief was of envy.  He obviously knew some languages that she didn''t.  She determined that as soon as he was through with his therapy, he was going to teach them to her.  It would give them something to do to pass the time on the road.


    On the road?  Where did that come from?  As she chewed on the idea, she realized that that was exactly what she wanted to do.  Once they were married, they could travel together.  Maybe not in style, but together to wherever the winds of trade took them.


    She wondered how her parents would take it.  She realized at once that her mother would consider it a great way to get two operatives in the field for the price of one.  Her father might be a bit difficult, but there would probably be some way for Mario to become a roving representative for the bank, which would also be an excellent cover story.  She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that it was several seconds before she noticed that Mario was shaking her.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    "Oh, hello.  I guess I was daydreaming for a second there."


    "Second my foot!  I was trying to get your attention for half a minute.  What is the world is wrong with you?"


    Smiling tenderly Genie patted Mario''s cheek.  "Nothing that being with you for the rest of my life won''t cure."


    Whammo!  Situation defused.  Mario looked totally confused and hopelessly smitten.  Genie filed that away in the "techniques to use when your spouse is irritated" folder.


    "Based on your, shall we say, ''colorful'' reaction, my guess is that Mother blindsided you too."


    "Too.  You didn''t know either?"


    "Nope.  She just told me last week about you proposing to my parents in your letters."


    Genie looked at him anxiously. "You did, didn''t you?  Propose I mean."


    Mario sighed.  "Well, at least she got that part right."


    He continued, muttering, "I at least wanted to ask you myself."


    Genie smiled at him.  "Ask me what."


    "Why to... Oh."  Mario caught on much more slowly than usual. His excuse to himself was that he''d been very, very sick lately.  He didn''t want to consider that Genie just might be a bit quicker on the uptake than he was.


    He started to bend his knee, but it immediately advised him of dire consequences should he do so.  Oh well, he''d improvise.  That''s what merchants do when things don''t go exactly right.  "Eugenia Caterina Donetti.  Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"


    She feigned surprise and a touch of doubt, "I don''t know.  This is all so sudden."


    Then she leapt upon him, knocking him backwards on the bed and covered his face with kisses.  Naturally, just as every cliche in the world would have it, Mimi appeared in the doorway.


    "I''m sorry to interrupt you, but you did leave the door open, and his breakfast won''t stay hot forever.  Would you consider continuing your activities later, preferably after he''s eaten something?"


    Genie sprang to her feet and frantically tried to straighten her dress.  How in the world had the straps come down off her shoulders?  "Yes of course Mimi.  We''ll be right there."


    Mimi nodded then vanished down the hallway.


    After his breakfast, Mario almost fell asleep at the table.  Genie helped him back to his room.  He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.


    Genie tiptoed out of the room and carefully closed the door.  Moments later the front door opened.  Yoko, Hibiki, and Ailin entered.  Ailin headed to the kitchen. The twins each took one of Genie''s hands guided her up to her room, then firmly closed the door.


    Before Genie could ask, Hibiki began speaking, "We have discussed the situation with our mother and have agreed that you will respond better to us than to her."


    Confused again, Genie looked at Yoko, who nodded agreement with...whatever it was.


    "All girls are aware that there are certain things a young woman should know before she gets married.  Mother, Yoko and I are equally certain that your mother has an extremely twisted sense of humor and is likely to fill you with an incredible amount of misinformation, just so she can imagine you squirming when you find out that it was wrong."


    Comprehension lit Genie''s face.  That''s exactly what she''d do.


    After taking a deep breath Hibiki continued with a sly grin, "I may have a sense of humor almost as twisted as hers, but what we intend to tell you will be the truth.  In addition to that, since we have been married longer than any of your other friends, we have the most experience with such things."


    At that point Yoko covered her mouth with her hands and began laughing.  A very unladylike snort escaped now and then, but she did manage to cover most of it.


    Genie drawled, "Yeah...right.  You''ve been married, what, a whole two and a half months?"


    Hibiki nodded.  "That is correct.  Do you have any other friends who have been married longer than we have?"


    "Uh.  Actually. No."


    "Well there you are, so we might as well get started.  And put that excellent memory of yours in high gear.  Some of what we are going to tell you will probably have you blushing all the way to your toes.  You are not likely to want us to tell you twice."


    An exaggerated leer occupied Hibiki''s face, and she started purring loudly enough that the entire room seemed to be vibrating along with her.  "Though I shall be happy to tell you as many times as it takes.  I would enjoy watching your reactions all over again."


    Genie turned to Yoko for support but discovered that, this time, she had nearly the same predatory expression as Hibiki.  Oh boy....


    Well it wasn''t like she had anything else to do.  And she did need to know.  Her education in that department was sadly lacking, probably also as a result of her mother''s conniving.  She grabbed a pillow off her bed and, briefly, considered smacking Biki with it.  Instead she clutched it to her chest, gritted her teeth, looked Hibiki directly in the eyes, and nodded.


    To her great relief, it seemed that Yoko and Hibiki had finished teasing her.  The actual discussion was completely serious, absolutely frank, at times extremely embarrassing, but incredibly helpful.


    Hibiki had been right.  Genie never wanted to talk about some of these things ever again, at least not until she needed to do the same with her own daughters, should she be blessed with them.  Fortunately she really did have an excellent memory.  There was no chance she''d forget anything that they''d discussed.


    Yoko reached out and patted her on the head.  "Really, it''s OK Genie. Ya can start breathing again."


    Genie realized that she''d been holding the pillow so tightly against her chest that it was interfering somewhat with her breathing.  No wonder she''d felt faint at the end.  She''d thought it was entirely due to how flustered she was.  She dropped the pillow and took a deep breath.  That was much better!


    The twins stood and made ready to leave.  Yoko had a few parting words, "If ya find that we''ve missed something, and ya need someone ta talk to, just let us know on the private channel.  I ''spect that ya''d probably not want Jason listening in."


    Heaven forbid!  Genie nodded vigorously.


    The twins waved and headed back home.  Jason should be about finished with their father in the dojo.  Hiroshi hadn''t been joking.  He''d been working Jason very hard to get his technique "up to standard."

 Vol 2 - Ch 33 You Found What?

    Thursday, September 1st in The Year 724 After the Founding; 3 p.m.


    Kaho had given them precise directions to her preceptor''s home.  The house they led to was a bit to the east of the South Road, and just about 50 meters north of the Ring Road.  It was a very odd structure.  For starters it was only two stories high and in an "L" shape, with the long part paralleling the road.  There was also a tall wall behind the building with incredibly old looking apple trees espaliered against it, something Genie had never seen before.  On either side of the building were gardens.  Small on the west side, but much larger on the east, though even the smaller one was huge for inside The City.


    There was a low stone wall all across the front, and it was covered with several kinds of vines, some of which were blooming in spite of it being early September.  There was a 20 centimeter high by 50 centimeter wide name plate on the left hand pillar supporting the entrance gate.  In all capital letters it said, "KASTNER."


    When she saw the nameplate, Genie froze for a good 10 seconds.  Immediately thereafter she ran back and forth along the front of the property, peering over the wall, and standing on her toes to see as far toward the back as she could over the ancient shrubs scattered about the gardens.


    When she came back to the gate, Mario saw tears in her eyes.  She was mumbling over and over, "It can''t be.  It can''t be.  But...but...it is.  It has to be!"


    He looked at her and tilted his head, inviting an explanation.


    "I''m so sorry.  I forgot for a moment that you weren''t born here.  If you like, I''ll tell you all about it, but later please.  It''ll take about an hour, and we need to get you in for your treatment.  OK?"


    "Sure honey.  I''m on an enforced vacation right now, so I have plenty of time."


    Genie opened the gate and helped Mario limp up to the door.  Before they could knock, a tall, slim man with gray at his temples opened the door.  He glanced at Genie then looked Mario up and down.  He spoke in a dry, professorial voice, "I see my patient is here.  Come on in.  You probably don''t want to stand any longer than you need to."


    They found themselves in a large room, with a ceiling that was lower than was the current custom.  There was a small fire burning in the fireplace in spite of it being the tail end of summer.


    Their host gestured them to seats.  Without appearing to do so, he watched every single move Mario made.  Once they were settled, he began, "Well young man.  I understand from Kaho that you have just recovered from a rather horrific injury.  Tell me about it."


    Mario suddenly looked extremely embarrassed, but he steeled himself and recited, "It happened when we were attacked by bandits.  They only outnumbered us by about two to one, so it was hardly much of a fight.  After I''d skewered the last one, I looked around to make sure that there weren''t any more of them.  Well, frankly, I should have paid better attention.  As his carcass fell forward, his sword was still in his hand.  The point caught in my trousers and ran itself a few centimeters into my leg, just above the knee.


    "Master Hiroshi has already chewed me up on side and down the other about how careless I was.  To tell the truth, I think he''s not finished with me yet.  He''s the best teacher I''ve ever known, or even hope to know, but if you make a mistake, he''s all over you like a bear that finds an unattended bee hive."


    Their host chuckled.  "Well then. I guess that since he''s already done it, I won''t have any need to repeat how stupid you were.  Oh, forgive me, I haven''t introduced myself.  My name is Josef Kastner."


    Eugenia jumped to her feet, and bounced on her toes.  "I''m sorry!  It''s just that I''m so excited.  To think that there was still someone like you in The City.  "Oh my god, I must look like an idiot.  Please forgive me cousin.  I''m Eugenia Donetti."


    Josef made no reaction other than to swivel his head and peer at Genie, much like a wise owl.  "Indeed.  Lily or Raven?"


    "Raven sir.  Through my mother''s side.  Her maiden name was Kastner."


    Mario was watching with evident interest and a touch of confusion.  He had no idea what was going on, but he could almost feel Genie''s excitement.


    Josef stood and extended his hand.  "I see.  You''re Josephine''s and Ignatius'' granddaughter then.  Well met cousin.  I''m sure that there are a number of other members of our extended family in The City, but very few are aware of their ultimate roots."


    Turning to Mario he added, "Eugenia and I can talk about our mutual ancestors some other time.  Today it''s your turn.


    "Kaho has reported her assessment of the damage to your leg to me .  Now, if you please, come with me to an examination room, and I shall see how well she did and what yet needs to be done.


    "Eugenia, please stay here if you will.  I shall support him as need be."


    "Yes sir.  I will."


    Josef nodded, then followed Mario to the back of the house, taking his elbow now and then when he began to overbalance.


    ..........................


    Half an hour later they returned.  Mario was walking slightly better, but there was still a noticeable limp.  There was also a faint sheen of sweat on his face.


    Josef was speaking, obviously continuing a conversation that had begun earlier, "You will do those exercises four times a day, no more and no less.  In time you will find that your range of movement improves and that the pain will decrease, probably a great deal."


    He looked over to Genie who had stood upon their reappearance.  "I understand from Mario that you are engaged and will be married in two days."


    Genie nodded.


    Using the same, dry voice as before he intoned, "You have my congratulations.  Now, back to work.     "There has been permanent loss of approximately 30% of the lateral part of a muscle in the distal thigh that is called the vastus lateralis.  It helps stabilize the knee and also is involved in extending the lower leg.  I''m sure that you can appreciate that there will be some weakness as a result.  As this muscle is also involved when one stands from a squatting position, you will likely need to lean somewhat to the left when you do so, in order to allow the left leg to take more of the burden.


    "Given time, especially if you dutifully follow the exercises I have prescribed, I forsee that there will be no more than a 20% permanent loss of strength."


    Swiveling his head, he focused his attention on Genie.  "However, should your young man not be rigorous in his rehabilitation, there could be as much as a 50% loss.  Which it will be is entirely up to him.  Even so, should he neglect his exercises, feel free to remonstrate with him as vigorously as you like.  Given your, our, family traits, I expect that you''d much prefer being known as a nag to being known as the wife of a cripple."


    Genie answered firmly, "Indeed. You have the right of it sir."


    Then she bowed.  "We shan''t take any more of your time, unless of course you have any further questions Love?"


    She turned to see Mario''s response.


    "No dearest.  I believe that we''ve discussed everything pertinent.  I''ve also been informed that Kaho will assess my progress weekly.  In addition, I suspect rather strongly, that Master Hiroshi will be more than willing to pass along his observations as well once I''m cleared to resume my training."


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Genie winced.  As Mario had implied earlier, the one thing a student wants less than anything else in the entire world is for Mr. Macklin to be angry with her.  In the fight where Jason had slightly injured his wrist, he''d made only the tiniest of mistakes, and look at what he was putting Jason through now. The idea of what he''d do if a student made a more serious error absolutely terrified her.


    Mario nodded.  It was clear that they were thinking along the same line.


    They turned and bowed to Dr. Kastner, then let themselves out, and made their way to where they could hail a cab.  It was getting on to lunch time, and Mario was finding that he needed to eat at least four times a day or risk unexpectedly falling on his face.


    Doctor Kastner had assured him that it was quite normal given that he''d been half-starved for almost three weeks.  He''d also explained that the body needed substantially more food than normal when one was severely injured or ill.  The combination was responsible for his voracious appetite.


    Genie took advantage of the cab ride to get in some snuggling.  It wasn''t much, seeing as they had such a small distance to travel, and were in public, but right now she''d take whatever she could get.  With the wedding only two days away, it was possible that the only time she''d see him for more than a few minutes between now and Saturday would be at some of their meals.


    ---------------


    The rest of the day for Mario was a repeat of the previous days.  Eat as much as possible, soak for half an hour, then off to bed for a nap lasting up to two hours.  Genie would awaken him at 6:00, so they could be on time for dinner.


    As soon as Mario was positioned properly in the bath, Genie strolled out the door then hiked up her skirt and sprinted down the hall toward the kitchen.  That was the most likely place to find Mimi at that time of day.  She skidded to a stop about two meters inside the door.  Mimi was sitting at the table directly facing Genie.  She raised her head with an inquiring look, showing no surprise at Genie''s precipitous entrance.


    "If you would Mimi, please let Mrs. Fukui and Yoko know that I need to see them.  I''ve made an exciting discovery that I''m sure will be of great interest to both of them.  Also, will you offer my profound apologies to Mrs. Fukui that I''m not coming to her.  It is more than unseemely that one of my age should ask the she come to me rather than the other way around but...."


    She gestured vaguely in the direction of the bathing room.


    Mimi nodded, set down the book she''d been reading, and left.


    Genie barely had enough time to get Mario settled for his nap before Mimi sought her out.  "The ladies are in the conservatory.  I shall prepare tea should your meeting take longer than you expect."


    As always, Genie''s "Thank you," followed Mimi''s rapidly receeding back down the hall.


    She straigtened her shoulders and headed for the conservatory.  She hoped that this would go well, but it could also be a disaster.  That would depend on how ticked Mrs. Fukui was.


    The first person she saw was Yoko.  She was bouncing on her toes.  Every third or fourth bounce she rose several centimeters in the air.  Genie swiveled her head, finding Akane sitting primly on a chair that was surrounded by plants on three sides with the late-afternoon sun highlighting her lovely blonde hair.  As always, given Akane''s Japanese ancestry, Genie was momentarily surprised that it was her natural color.  Fortunately she didn''t look too upset, she hoped.


    Genie approached timorously.


    Akane was struggling with herself.  She''d thought that she''d put aside her previous, rigid self, but she''d just now discovered that it had merely lain dormant.  Her attitude vacillated between fury and dismay, mixed with intense curiosity.  She KNEW Genie.  She''d taught her for over two years now.  One thing she wasn''t was intentionally rude.  Accidentally?  Yes, and still all too often, but never, ever on purpose.


    It was very likely that there was some compelling reason for her sudden message.  However, if it proved that there were not, she intended to have words with Miranda about her daughter''s behavior.


    Genie decided to start out carefully rather than blurting out her discovery, no matter how much she wanted to join Yoko in bouncing.  She bowed deeply.  "Mrs. Fukui.  I deeply appreciate your taking time out of your busy day to respond to my request.  Please believe me that if it were not that I am currently confined here by my need to tend to my fiancee''s wounds, I would have come to you."


    Akane was very much mollified by Genie''s approach.  She had learned from Kaho and Jason that Mario has almost died after sustaining a grievous injury.  Other than that she knew nothing other that that he was recovering at the Donetti home.  Kaho refused to say anything more citing something called "Physician-Patient Confidentiality."


    Genie began, "This morning I took Mario to see the physician who will be overseeing Mario''s treatment."


    Akane almost bristled at her.  Hearing about Mario was NOT why she was here.  However, she firmly stamped it down.  She''d spent years with Jason beginning a conversation with odd tangents, and, as she had just recalled, Eugenia had a touch of the same problem.


    Oblivious to Akane''s inner struggle Genie continued, "Upon our arrival we discovered that the name of the doctor is Josef Kastner."


    Akane''s inner alarm began to tingle.  Perhaps this might be interesting after all.


    "I could hardly believe my eyes, but, once inside Doctor Kastner confirmed it.  He is descended in the direct line from Johann and... odd, he didn''t say.  Anyway, when I tested him by calling him ''cousin'' his response was most interesting.  He said, ''Lily or Raven?''


    "He KNOWS the lines of descent.  I didn''t have time to determine if he has any records that we haven''t found so far, but he did sorta invite me back to talk about it later, after Mario''s treatment is complete."


    Akane, most disturbingly, found herself twitching, as if she were also about to start bouncing.  She ruthlessly supressed the urge.  A lady does NOT bounce.  A myriad of questions she wanted to ask Dr. Kastner flashed through her mind, but it seemed that Eugenia was not yet finished.


    "And...AND....  I can hardly believe it.  But it''s true. I swear it.  I''ve seen a description in one of the histories, so I can''t be wrong, can I?"


    "Wrong about what child?  Get on with it!"


    "Oh, yes, sorry Mrs. Fukui.  Well, it''s this.  Dr. Kastner is in all likelihood living in the ancestral Kastner home.  It still exists, and it''s barely more than half a kilometer away from us!"


    Akane crossed her hands on her chest and took a number of deep breaths.  The house is still there!  What wonders could it contain?  It wasn''t just that it was one of the most important buildings in the history of The City either.  If this Doctor Kastner would allow it, and she''d do her best to be very, very persuasive, an incredible amount could be learned by examining it and determining how homes were built seven hundred years earlier.  Everything from the stonework to how the rooms were laid out was important.  Much could be learned about a culture by knowing how they put their homes together.


    She stood and gave Genie a big hug.  Which of them was the most surprised wasn''t clear.  Then Akane pushed herself back a ways and apologized, "My dear child. Please forgive me for doubting, even for a moment, that your summons was truly important.  I''ve learned today that I''m still lacking in understanding."


    "Not at all. Not at all.  I suspect that, were I in the same situation, I might have felt the same way, which is why I had an escape route prepared."  She pointed to the half-open door.


    Both of them laughed.  They''d been so caught up in their emotions that neither of them noticed that, upon hearing the news about their relative, Yoko''s bounces had reached a full two meters high.


    When Genie announced that the Kastner home still existed, Yoko had lost all control.  Her acrobatics had taken her from one side of of the conservatory to the other, then up the exposed iron work all the way to the peak, eight meters in the air.  Had anyone been watching, her flips, twists, and spins would have enthralled a watcher nearly as much as Kaho''s lightweaving had.


    As it was, the tall plants surrounding the chair in the alcove where Akane was sitting blocked the view of the other two.


    By the time Yoko got herself under control again, Genie was just finishing up, "I think we can take time off from school to visit him whenever he says he has free time.  I know that I''ll find something to write a paper or two about, and you''ll probably find enough material to publish at least one book, maybe more."


    Akane shook a finger at her.  "You''re a wicked girl, talking about cutting class.  But, one of the things we try to teach our students at Ingvold is when and how to take the initiative when an opportunity presents.  Far be it from me to quash a student who is merely doing what we''ve encouraged all of our students to do."


    They both laughed heartily, then Akane continued, "I believe that next week I shall have Kaho introduce me to Dr. Kastner, and I shall feel him out.  We don''t want to overwhelm him.  If we do that, he might refuse us further access.  We need to take it slowly.  Perhaps spread out over the rest of the school year."


    She held up a hand as Genie started to protest.  "No child.  We''ll do this my way.  No arguing or I''ll exclude you.  The house has been there nearly seven hundred years.  It''s waited this long, and we can wait a few months more to uncover its secrets."


    Genie was disappointed, but she had to agree.  Agents were trained to be patient, or at least to act as if they were.  If she thought of this as part of her training, it might make the waiting easier.  She doubted it, but at least it was possible.


    She nodded, then said, "I''m sorry to just dump this on you and run, but I have my final fitting to go to."


    Akane was thoroughly upset with herself.  She''d been irritated that Genie had interrupted her day, which, truth be told, had been fairly quiet thus far.  She''d totally forgotten that in addition to taking care of Mario, Eugenia was to be married in less than 48 hours.


    "Of course child.  I should thank you for taking time to speak to us of this when you''re already so incredibly busy."


    Genie felt a tugging on her sleeve, and looked down at Yoko, who said, "Yeah.  Me too.  Thanks."


    Genie bestowed smiles all around then scurried away.  As always, Mimi appeared and escorted the guests to the front door.


    Once they had parted, all four found themselves thinking that it had been a most interesting and profitable day.

 Vol 2 - Ch 34 Wrap-up, Epilogue, and notes.

    On Saturday some of the participants were ready to charge ahead, while others were wishing for more time.  Among the latter were those who had planned the wedding, and, especially, the reception.  The former consisted of Mario, Eugenia, and all the invited guests.  Among the guests the reasons were as varied as they were, ranging from simply enjoying going to wedding receptions, to looking upon  receptions as good places to make and maintain business connections.


    In keeping with the "frugality" part of The City''s motto, Robert had negotiated a substantial discount on the rental fee for the reception hall, citing both the slowness of the season and the expected heat at that time of year.  In the process he managed to convince the manager of the facility that he was doing him a favor by renting it at all.


    It was true that the temperature in the first week of September, even this far north,  could be extremely warm.  The City was built of stone and had limited green spaces, even allowing for the Ring Park and the unusually large number of gardens for a city its size.  Fortunately, given the  break in the caldera to the south, cool breezes flowed down from the mountains most every day, starting in the mid to late afternoon.


    Thus, while the wedding was scheduled to take place at 10 a.m., the reception would not begin until seven in the evening.  The timing was unusual, but had pleased the manager of the reception hall.  It was legal to serve wine and ale after 6 p.m. at events in public meeting halls, and he hoped to make up for the reduced rental fee by selling as many drinks as possible before they closed at 11.  It was likely that very few attendees would notice, or even care, that the newlyweds would have left by nine.


    The wedding went swimmingly for all concerned.  Like that for the trio, it was held in the conservatory at the Donetti home.  All the potted plants that could be moved had been arranged around the periphery, providing a lush background for the cermony, which was performed by Bishop Lundgren of the Church of the Placid Heart.  He was Paolo''s superior, Miranda''s close friend, and an exceptionally effective spy when the occasion demanded.


    As was traditional, there were few guests.  Alicia and Aldus RIngvold stood for Mario.  The rest were Eugenia''s best friends, Sara and Paolo, Jason and the twins, and Miranda''s sister Anna and her husband Richard -- Robert''s older brother.  The group was completed by Genie''s, Jason''s, and the twins'' parents -- who had become almost as inseparable as the trio.


    At first it was planned that Eugenia and Mario would use her room, but, what with all the cleaning being done, a long-forgotten doorway had been found at the back of the house.  On the other side was a space that had probably been used as a storeroom of some sort in the distant past.  Currently most of the contents were ancient cobwebs.


    It was a bit far away from the rest of the house, but it was remarkably spacious.  There were some high windows that gave good light, and there was a smaller room to the side that would serve nicely as a combination dressing room and office.  Finding it had been an incredible stroke of luck.  It would also allow Stavros and Consuela to have separate bedrooms, which had been becoming a worry what with them having just turned 11 three weeks earlier.


    When Kaho had inspected the room, she allowed as how cleaning it, and moving in the necessary furniture (or at least helping) would be excellent therapy for Mario.  Mimi and Sven had, of course, been willing to undertake the necessary work, but they mutually sighed in relief when they heard Kaho''s decision.  They already had very busy schedules, and adding the extra work would have made some things rather difficult to complete as quickly as they were accustomed to doing.


    Thus it was that, unlike most newlyweds, these were busy cleaning and arranging for several hours after the wedding.  They barely had time for a bath and a nap before they had to dress for the reception.  The bath of course was a perfect time to, ah, shall we say, "get better acquainted," but they forbore on the grounds that looking totally exhausted at their reception would not be a very good idea.  It would get the tongues of the several gossips who would be attending wagging overtime.


    The parents had discussed, and cleared with Eugenia and Mario, the attendance of Stavros, Conseula, Rebecca, and Guiseppi at the reception.  They were deemed just old enough to begin to learn more about adult activities.  Robert was still too young and his introduction to such formal affairs would have to wait a while yet.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.    All of them were on their best behavior, being grateful to be treated as, not quite adults, but as children who were old enough to be included without constant supervision.


    Oh, Stavros and Consuela had their usual minor disagreements and bickered occasionally, but an observer would have noted that there were also times where they held hands and had rather wistful expressions.  It was as if they were beginning to realize that one day they too would be marrying and would no longer be able to count on seeing each other every day.


    As planned, Mario and Eugenia slipped out of the hall at nine, accompanied by Yoko, Hibiki, and Jason, who were also headed home for some private time together.  The younger children had all insisted that they were just fine and "not sleepy at all."  Their parents had agreed.  They''d be easier to manage if they were mostly asleep when they left.


    Akane and Sebastian would be spending the night in one of the Macklin''s guest rooms.  It would give them extra time to chat about this and that in the morning, and when they left with Jason there would be no whisperings by the neighbors about where he had spent the night or with whom.


    EPILOGUE


    With the wedding of Mario and Eugenia, all but two of the major players and their backups had now not only met but been inextricably bound to each other.  One of the most important parts of the plan was now all but complete.  Lady Blue turned to "Mimi" and "Ailin" who had resumed their natural forms and, for Ailin, his true gender, for this meeting.


    She bowed.  "I thank you for your continued help in this matter."


    "Thanks are not needed.  It is, after all, our duty.  We are especially pleased that you arranged for our children to meet again here and to grow up together.  We had serious reservations when you convinced us that allowing one of our eggs to be hatched and our youngling raised by one who was, or at least had been, a human would be necessary.  As our births are always twins, we were extremely worried that problems would arise if they were reared separately.


    "We are worried no longer.  Now that they have been reunited, ''Stavros'' and ''Consuela'' are as fit, happy, and as stable as they would have been had they been reared together since they hatched.


    "We will continue to support you.  Not only is your plan necessary in order to rid this ''verse cluster of one of its greatest threats, but, we must admit, we are having a great deal of fun."


    Lady Blue smiled.  "That is as it should be.  When you are working to prevent the corruption of an entire group of universes, if you don''t make time to find something to enjoy now and then, you''ll go crazy long before you''ve solved your problem."


    They laughed.  "It is as you say.  Now we shall return.  We wish to continue to watch over the children, both ours and those others for whom we have assumed responsibility.  Fare you well."


    After they had blinked out, Lady Blue hoped that all of them would "fare well" and not just for now, but for always.  Whether or not that would come to pass was as of yet somewhat uncertain.  Still, there was hope.  There was always hope.  That certainty had sustained her ever since she had conceived of this plan to rectify the mistake that had put so many universes in danger.


    There were now only a paltry few thousand details left to take care of over the next six to eight centuries.  A piece of cake!


    ------------------------------


    Silk Road - A term not coined until 1877, we use it here as it is easier than dredging up what the land routes from Europe to Asia were called in the 14th century.


    Pope Sixtus IV - On Earth II, his reign began in 1471, approximately 90 years later than here in our tale from Earth VI.  Unfortunately his corrupt practices and nepotism were the same in both worlds.


    Printing


    Most people think of Johannes Gutenberg as having introduced the printing press with movable type in about 1450 AD.  This is not correct.  He was, probably, the first to do so in Europe.  At the very least, he''s received more publicity than others who were working on it at the same time.


    The oldest press known to have used movable metal type was developed in Korea around the year 1377 AD.


    The Chinese has presses with movable type no later than 1040 AD  -  though theirs used porcelain type.


    So... It isn''t all that much of a stretch for me to have Zheng He bringing a small press with him to India and "give" it to an Italian ship-captain.  (Probably after receiving a substantial "gift" himself from Captain Turano.)


    You might wonder why, on the Friday before Avellino was captured, the children were not in school.  Many schools closed on the Friday before each Festa so as to allow the children to assist their parents in making preparations.  This could be something as simple as preparing for a family celebration, or as complicated as stocking and assisting with sales to pilgrims and tourists at their family businesses.  Festa weekends, except for those in the dead of winter, brought in a large part of the annual income for many businesses in The City.


    Regarding the information Miranda supplied to Akane when she burst in on Miranda and Blair:


    The reason that Miranda was already familar with Jason''s work with the diaries was because Paolo had mentioned it after dinner one day.  She''d found the information interesting, but nothing more than that.  At the time, her mind was primarily occupied by an ongoing incident regarding a ''disagreement'' between the Tailor''s Guild and the Dyer''s Guild.

 Vol 3 - Ch 1 Honors Independent Study in Sociology

    NETWORK


    The Qalla quietly opened the classroom door and performed a rapid survey.  There were surprisingly few beings present, only nine in total.  She usually timed her arrival so as to be in the middle of the influx, neither too early nor too late to be individually noticed.  As she stepped inside, she felt the tingle of a personnel scanner and nearly collapsed in shock.


    While the sensation was familiar, she''d never experienced it before except when passing through security at military bases.  Being subjected to a scan upon entering a classroom was, well, frightening.  What had she gotten herself into this time?


    All the while she was thinking, she continued moving and took a seat in her favorite area, in the center of the classroom and five rows back from the front, right behind those reserved for the larger species that wouldn''t fit in the smaller seats further back.  With them blocking the view, she could then remain almost entirely unnoticed by the professors.


    As she set up her data recorder, she took note of each of those who had preceeded her into the classroom and the seven who had thus far entered behind her.  She recognized a total of two, both of whom had been part of the group she''d been in when they had confronted Professor Ptica about the reality of the information presented in App. Soc. VII.


    Shock number two arrived, in the form of her realizing that, although queries to the university databases were functioning normally, she was unable transmit any data to her personal storage area.  A hurried check showed that she was also unable to store data on any of the devices she had brought with her.  A number of conversations around her took on a querulous tone as everyone else in the classroom appeared to be experiencing the same "problem."


    Althought it was far, far too late to change anything, she accessed her memories of the process by which she had arrived here, hoping for at least a shred of enlightenment as to what was going on.


    -------------------


    It had been three weeks before spring break.  She had been reviewing her plans for the next semester''s classes when she had noticed that there was a new icon at the bottom of the Sociology Department''s list of offerings.  It was labeled only as "more."   She activated it, curious as to why she''d either not noticed it before or why it had now appeared.  As she reviewed the listings, she saw a number of interesting classes, though all of them had prerequisites that she did not as yet meet.


    Scrolling down to the bottom of the list, she saw another "more" icon, but this one was very small and the color was one that, as far as she knew, was only visible to four species, one of which was hers.  Intrigued, she clicked on the icon and was presented, as expected, with a new screen.


    However, not as expected, there was only a single listing:  Applied Sociology VIII-2.


    Let''s see, the prerequisite was....odd.  There wasn''t one listed though one would assume that it would be App. Soc. VIII.  What was there was a box at the bottom of the page where one could obviously enter...something.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    As she was pondering what that "something" might be, her datapad chimed with the tone indicating a secure message.  Opening it, she saw an extremely long string of characters followed by a simple message: "Enter in class authorization window."


    She''d known for years that the university collected all sorts of data on its students.  That was a given and expected.  What she hadn''t known was that the university was tracking students as they reviewed lists of upcoming classes.  That would merit further surreptitious investigation at a later date.  For now, more than mildly intrigued, she did as instructed and hit "enter."


    The screen flashed briefly, followed by a message: "Registration Accepted."   After that the only information she received was a date, time, and classroom number.


    -----------------


    BAH!  As expected, there was no useful data in her memory.


    She checked the clock on the wall which indicated only one minute before class was to begin.  She looked around again, noting the others present.  Ah HA!  All six of those who''d been with her at Professor Ptica''s office were here now.  The next thing she noticed was that there were, in total, only 48 beings present, rather than the 200+ that would normally be in a classroom this size.  The next thing she became aware of was that there was nobody sitting in front of her.  Rather than being obscured from the professor''s vision, she was directly in front of the lectern.  Given it was a perch-lectern, she realized that the professor in question must be Professor Ptica.  She was the only avian member of the faculty in the Sociology Department.


    While Qalla was fighting to retain consciousness, the professor entered and was, as expected, Ptica, who stalked across the floor and flitted up onto her perch.  Had the Qalla been able to remain alert enough to observe Ptica''s eyes, she would have noticed a glint of amusement as her gaze fell on the Qalla.


    Ptica fluffed her feathers and began, "All of you here are those who, over the past five years, realized the truth behind App. Soc. VII.  By now all of you have, or should have, noticed that the "record" functions of your data units are non-functional.  By law nothing presented during this class may be discussed anywhere except in this classroom or in my office.  What we are about to review is far more important than what you''ve seen in the App. Soc. VII and VIII, and, because of this, it is that much more sensitive."


    Looking directly at the Qalla she continued, "Which explains why, as some of you noticed, my office is the only one in the university that can comfortably seat such a large number of beings."


    As she continued to look at the Qalla, her tone took on a serious flavor, "From this point on, I shall not be playing with you any longer.  No more glares, or remarks intended to intimidate.


    "I know that you all spent some time in an attempt to obtain details on the length of this class, how many credits you''ll receive for taking it, and so forth.  When the time comes that you need such, your transcripts will indicate that in this time period you received five credit hours for ''Honors Independent Study in Sociology''.  Should you be asked in the future, you will answer, truthfully, that the subject of your study involved a classified Local Sector Government project which you are forbidden from speaking about."


    She added, with a chuckle, "Of the many tens of thousands of students in this university, only 0.3%  graduate with credit for Honors Independent Study.  That is the total for all departments, not just Sociology.  Such students are highly prized by both government agencies and the private sector, even though none of them have the slightest idea of what it is involved in HIS, nor do they care.  What they know is only one thing:  Those graduates with such an honor always excel in whatever they''re hired to do.  I expect that you will all perform to the same standard.


    She shrugged.  "Enough of that.  Let''s get started."

 Vol 3 - Ch 2

    August 12 in The Year 722 After the Founding


    Stavros and Consuela dashed around the corner then accelerated to their full speed.  Immediately after passing the second fruit stand on the right, they grabbed the pole supporting the night-lamp, swung around it, then pelted down the narrow alley in front of them. The sounds of pursuit faded rapidly as they made another right turn, doubling back in the direction they''d come from, but two blocks west of where they''d begun.  Three minutes later they burst through the front door of their home, turned, then swiftly but quietly pushed it closed.


    As one they faced toward each other with grins of triumph on their faces.  Before they could proceed with mutual congratulations, a hand grabbed each of them by the collar and lifted them into the air.  The being responsible, Mimi the head maid, thereupon pivoted and began walking, completely ignoring the twins attempts to slither out of her grasp.  Without slacking off on her pace, Mimi walked them upstairs then down the hall.  Reaching a set of double doors, she caused them to open and continued inside.  Two meters inside she set them down just as the person at the desk they were facing put down the pen she''d been using to write out a budget proposal for a certain project.


    Miranda spoke calmly and completely tonelessly, "Well.  This should be interesting.  You might as well put them down.  They aren''t going anywhere...at least not until I''m finished with them."


    She shifted her gaze to her children, who were trying to be as still as possible in the unreasonable hope that such an action would keep them from being noticed.  "Explain yourselves."


    The twins were only nine years old, but they had learned long ago that trying to play the blame game wouldn''t work.  No ploy or stratagem that they''d ever come up with had delayed or diverted their mother''s quest for the truth whenever they got into trouble.


    ------------------------


    Ptica interjected, "I supposed that I should mention that in addition to being rather, shall we say, ''energetic,'' they were also extremely inventive.  They''d tried out an almost unbelievable number of excuses in the previous four years, and all had failed.  Not a single one had managed to even slow Miranda down, much less distract her attention from their latest misdeed.


    "Ye gods!  I''m repeating myself.  You should stop me when I do that.  No, really, I mean it.  I haven''t knocked a student unconscious for at least three decades, maybe even four, and that was an accident.  Truly."


    --------------------------------


    About three months earlier, the twins had finally realized that, no matter what they came up with, it wasn''t going to work.  That realization totally ruined half their fun.  They had truly enjoyed fabricating tall tales, but, since the telling of them usually worsened their punishment, they''d reluctantly given up and now always told the truth.


    It wasn''t nearly as much fun, but the consequences of their actions had, at the same time, become much less painful.  Not that Miranda or their father Robert had ever hit them.  Frankly, they''d have preferred a good spanking.  They''d reasoned that once such punishment was over, it was over, and one could then go out and find other things to stick one''s unwanted nose into.


    Unfortunately, like most good parents, theirs had realized long ago that physical punishment was, besides being relatively useless in the long run, time consuming.  It was much more efficient to manipulate the situation so that the children punished themselves by making them realize that it was their own choices that had led to their loss of privileges, confinement at home, or whatever else seemed appropriate at the time.


    The children had a hurried conversation in "twin" and decided that this time it was Stavros'' turn.


    "Ah, yes mother, about that.  You see we were down on Bleek street, near where it intersects with Hopewell, just north of the Ring Road.  Well, anyway we were just walking along....


    Miranda steepled her fingers.  "You mean that you were practicing being sneaky, don''t you?"


    "Well, I suppose you could say that if you want to be picky about it."


    Miranda''s left eyebrow began twitching.  Stravros swallowed hastily and hurriedly added, "Of course accuracy is important, isn''t it?  Anyway, we were practicing being sneaky, and we came up behind this group of older boys."


    He turned to Consuela and asked, "They were about 12 or 13, wouldn''t you say?"


    Seeing her nod he turned back to his mother.  "Yes, and, anyway we heard them talking about how they were thinking about maybe snatching some pastries from the food stall just around the corner.  We didn''t see a Guard or anyone from the Militia so we sorta just snuck up behind them.  Then each of us kicked one of them in the back of the knee.


    He raised his hands into a defensive posture.  "But only hard enough to make them fall down.  That''s when we took off and ran home."  A superior smirk appeared on Stavros'' face.  "Nobody knows all the alleys and back streets like we do.  They never had a chance to catch us!"


    Miranda dropped her face into her hands and sat, unmoving, for a good 20 seconds.  When she finally spoke, she didn''t lift her head.  "If I understand you correctly, you assaulted two boys who you thought might be about to commit a minor crime.  Then you ran home.  If I recall correctly, and I do, the streets are very busy this time of day.  Do you know how many people you made drop packages or who had to jump out of your way so as not to be hit?  Did any of those people suffer any kind of injury when they avoided you?  Were any packages broken?  Will some people have to go without their dinners tonight because what you made them drop is no longer edible?"


    She lifted her face.  There was no expression on it at all.  "Mimi, I think that the two of them will take their baths now, after which they will spend the rest of their time before school tomorrow in their room.  I would appreciate it if you would assist them in remembering this change in their usual routine.  Given what I''ve just heard, it is apparent that their judgement and memories are likely somewhat impaired.


    "I''ve heard that fasting is good for clearing one''s mind.  I expect that by lunch time tomorrow their minds will be functioning normally again."


    "Yes Madame.  I shall be pleased to aid them in such an endeavor."


    Miranda nodded.  "Thank you Mimi."


    She turned to her twins.  "You may leave."


    After the twins left, Miranda wrote out a note and rang a small bell on her desk.  She handed the note to the man who appeared.  "Please deliver this to Sargeant Rivers at the Guard barracks.  It appears that another gang may be in the early stages of forming.  Perhaps she''ll find other things for them to do with their time."


    The man nodded and strode out of the room.


    While Mimi was washing Stavros'' hair, the twins had a, for them, serious conversation.


    "Stav, what the heck are we going to do for fun now?  Mom''s caught on to everything we''ve been able to think of so far."


    "Not sure yet ''Suela.  I''ve been trying to figure out something for the past few weeks, but I''m not getting anywhere."


    "Well that doesn''t help.  I was sure you''d have SOMETHING.  You''re sneakier than I am...at least most of the time."


    Mimi rinsed Stavros'' head and pointed at the bath.


    Obediently he took himself to it and slid down until his chin was at the surface.  Mimi nodded then started on Consuela.  Her hair was longer, down to the middle of her shoulder blades, and also on the fine side.  Unlike their mother''s originally black-colored hair, her hair was a light brown with many chestnut highlights.  From Mimi''s perspective the combination of that with the light brown tone of her skin was striking, if not beautiful.  She was, of course, biased, but she was certain that any objective viewer would find it most attractive.  Mimi had noticed that ''Suela didn''t have the silver streak that Miranda had begun to develop at her age, but, if she understood it correctly, it tended to be passed down only to some children.


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Now Stavros'' color was more plebian.  His skin was darker than his sister''s, though not nearly as dark as Miranda''s.  His hair was almost the same shade as his skin, with just a few threads of silver here and there.  Mimi supposed that eventually his hair would be all silver just like Miranda''s.  The idea was quite disconcerting as that combination had never appeared among them before, but as she thought about it, she decided that it would definitely draw favorable attention.  If you combined that with the the brilliant blue eyes he''d inherited from Robert....  Well let''s just say that Mimi was looking forward to seeing how the females would react to him in a hundred years or so.


    She finished removing the last of the twigs and leaves and...whatever it was...from Consuela''s hair then rinsed her as well.  She didn''t need to point.  Consuela rose and walked briskly to the bath.  While it was still Summer, the usual afternoon breeze from the mountains had the room on the cool side.


    Mimi tapped her foot to get their attention.  When they''d turned toward her she made a vague motion with her left hand.  They nodded.  They''d soak for 20 minutes and then go straight to their room.


    Later, as they approached their room, Stavros asked, "What''re we gonna do about food?  I don''t have anything."


    ''Suela smiled.  "Don''t worry, I have some bread and cheese.  It''s not a lot, but it should get us by without feeling like we''re starving."


    As they reached the door, it opened and Mimi exited.  She was licking her fingers.  "Thanks for the snack.  I still have a number of tasks before dinner.  This will help."


    After she''d passed, the twins ran into their room.  ''Suela dove into a corner and reached behind a bookshelf into a cavity where there used to be a large brick.  She''d known what she would find, but the reality was still excruciating.


    She wailed, "It''s all gone Stav!  There''s nothing left at all."


    They turned as one and glared at the inoffensive door.


    "Well darn.  I guess we''ll have to do that." Suela stamped her foot.  "I really wanted to finish that fairy-tale book tonight too."


    "I suppose you''re right ''Suela.  But we both know how awful we''ll feel tomorrow if we don''t."


    "Yeah.  OK.  I guess we might as well do it now.  Waiting isn''t going to change anything."


    So saying, they hung up the robes they''d worn back from the bathing room and pulled on their nightclothes.  Then they curled up on Consuela''s bed, making sure that their backs were touching, all the way from the base of the neck to their hips.  Next, using their free hands, they pulled a light blanket up to completely cover them.


    "We good?"


    "Yep, should be."


    "Right then.  See you in the morning."


    With that they each took three, very slow, deep breaths, each longer than the previous one.  By the time they''d finished exhaling the third breath, they were deeply asleep.  They''d awaken 12 minutes before they had to leave for school the next morning.


    Hearing the slow, deep breathing as she walked past the room, Mimi nodded then walked down the hall to Miranda''s office.  "They''re asleep."


    Miranda frowned thoughtfully. "I''ve never figured out how they do that.  I assume they''ll be up in time to leave for school in the morning?"


    "Yes Madame."


    "Very good.  Thank you Mimi."


    "It was my pleasure Madame."


    After Mimi had left and closed the door, Miranda stretched and yawned.  How very interesting...and how infuriatingly frustrating.  She had absolutely no idea how her twins managed to do whatever it was that they were doing.  It had happened several times in the past as well, always when they were sent to bed without their dinner.


    What really drove her crazy was the fact that Mimi obviously knew exactly what and how they did whatever it was.  She could ask her of course, but that would be breaking the most important, unspoken rule of the game that they were playing.  Miranda had to figure out these things by herself.


    And, speaking of rules, she''d just finished writing out the rules of a "game" that she hoped would constrain the twins'' reckless behavior without stifling their creativity.  In the process of playing, Miranda would likely gain a great deal of useful information.  As always when playing a game, she intended to come out on top.


    As she left her office to head to the dining room she heard faintly, "Always?  What about your game with Mimi?"


    She pretended that she hadn''t heard that particular, gloating voice.  She''d deal with that one later, assuming she ever figured out how.


    Lady Blue nodded to herself.  That one needed taking down a peg now and then.  She was much too full of herself most of the time.  Well, that was one more item crossed off her daily to-do list, only a few hundred to go.  She''d best be about it.


    ------------------


    When the twins arrived home the next afternoon, they were unexpectedly met at the door by Mimi who informed them, "Your mother wishes to see you in her office.  I shall take your things to your room."


    As they handed their books and such to, Mimi they exchanged worried glances.  They hadn''t done anything else that would get them in trouble.  Had they?


    Upon reaching their mother''s office doors, they knocked and were immediately instructed to enter.  When they saw the two chairs across from their mother''s desk, they were, to say the least, shocked.  They''d never been allowed to sit in her presence before, except at mealtimes, in their bedroom, and when they were in the family parlor.


    The looked back and forth from the chairs to their mother several times, just to make sure that...well, they weren''t exactly sure what they were making sure of.


    "Sit.  I''m not going to eat you."


    Miranda''s tone was somewhat harsh, but the twins were relieved to know for certain what they were supposed to do.


    They did so gingerly, and sat with their spines rigid and their hands clasped in their laps.  Once seated they focused their entire attention on their mother.


    Miranda looked them up and down then spoke, "Acceptable.  Now let me tell you what I''ve decided.  Your behavior lately has been rather far from what would be appropriate even among the peasant farmers.  Fortunately, for you as well as for myself, I''ve discovered a solution.  Frankly I think that I''m being much too lenient with you, but I''m aware that one cannot expect perfection from nine-year-old children.  Therefore we will begin where we must.


    "Beginning tomorrow, when you are away from home, you will engage in activities that will earn you points.  You may wish to ask for what purpose.  Well, don''t.  I''m going to tell you.


    "First of all I''ll tell you what you will do.  You will gather information for me.  In the process, you will learn what kind of information is important, which is merely interesting, and which is worthless.  To make things easier I shall give you some examples.


    "If you discover that a street merchant has purchased his or her child a new toy worth six soldini, that''s worthless.  If it cost seven grossi, that''s interesting.  If it cost 30 ducats, that''s important.


    "Should you learn that a girl of 17 has accepted the marriage proposal of a 19 year old young man, that''s usually, though not always, worthless.  If she is 14 and he is 19, that''s interesting.  If she is 15 and he is 30, that''s important.


    "I expect  you to figure out the general worth of other happenings in the city on your own.  If you bring me worthless information, you will receive negative points.


    "There is one other requirement.  Nobody must notice you when you are acquiring your new knowledge.  Should I learn that you have been seen or heard, especially should you run through the streets to escape, as you did yesterday, there will be a substantial deduction of points."


    So far the children had been politely attentive, though they had obviously been disinterested until she mentioned the part where they were essentially told that they were allowed to be sneaky while obtaining the information.


    Miranda smiled inwardly.  Time to set the hook.


    "Your next question should be this: ''What do we do with the points when we get them?''.


    "Your answer is, when you have accumulated what I consider a sufficient number of points, but no more often than once a week, you will be allowed to visit the Fukui Patisserie and select one serving of any item you wish as a treat."


    Upon hearing this last part the twins jumped into the air.  As best Miranda could tell, it was nearly two and a half meters.  They seemed to momentarily stretch and coil around each other before they parted and landed exactly where they''d started and were once again sitting primly on their chairs.


    "I see that my proposal meets with your agreement."


    She was answered by vigorous nodding and huge smiles.


    "Very well.  We shall begin tomorrow.  You are excused."


    The twins stood and bowed, then turned and quietly left the room.  They didn''t want to do anything to jeopardize the arrangement.


    At dinner that night the twins were perfectly behaved, not disruptive at all, and that was the problem.  They NEVER behaved like that.  Sara, Paolo, and Eugenia were beside themselves with curiosity but there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.  No matter how they worded any questions, they were sure to offend someone.


    If they asked their younger sibs: "What''s wrong with you?  You''re acting perfectly normal," their mother was sure to hit them with something like: "Really?  Tell me.  Is there something wrong with behaving properly?  I''d be very interested to hear your explanation."


    Once that happened, there''d be no way out of the quagmire.


    If they praised the twins by saying: "It''s nice to see you behaving so well tonight," the implied insult, that they usually didn''t, was sure to get them anything from a "die now" glare to multiple pranks over the ensuing days or even weeks.


    Therefore all three of them clenched their teeth and did their best to act exactly as they usually did, knowing that their parents would notice what they were doing and would probably be privately laughing at them all evening.

 Vol 3 - Ch 3

    Around 8 p.m., Miranda entered the twins'' bedroom.  Stavros was sitting quietly on his bed and Consuela on hers, with a book in her lap.  Their heads pivoted as one, and big grins broke out on both their faces.


    "''Suela, it''s your turn tonight, isn''t it?"


    So saying Miranda walked over and sat next to Consuela.  Stavros immediately bounced over (only one bounce mind you) and sat on the other side of their mother, whereupon Miranda wrapped an arm around each of them and said, "Begin."


    Consuela nodded enthusiastically, opened the book to the fairy tale she''d wanted to read the night before, and began from where they''d last left off.


    To be entirely honest, even though being so might distress Miranda -- given her occupation -- her decision to have the children read to her was somewhat selfish.  Oh, true, having the children do the reading was very helpful in that when one of them was stuck on a word, she was immediately available to aid them.  However that was only a secondary reason for the arrangement.  More than anything else it was because she hated reading aloud.  Putting in the obligatory sound effects, such as a monster''s roar, embarrassed her greatly.  Finally, as she wasn''t involved in holding the book, she had both hands free for hugging.


    Though there wasn''t a name for it yet, Miranda was one of those people who felt that all things in life should be organized properly.  She needed things done in certain ways at certain times.  One of the reasons she accepted Duchess Henrietta''s offer to be her spymaster was because that allowed her to put the activities of the people living in The City in a proper order, at least in her mind.


    In some ways she was a bit worse than many with her problem, as she also organized her life according to what she considered the "proper" activities associated with whatever room of their home she was in.  Thus in her office she was all business, in the library, especially if her husband was present, it was time to relax, and when in the twins'' room she felt free to cuddle and play with her children to her heart''s content.  She had, reluctantly, come to the conclusion that, in the hallways and along the balcony on the second floor, there was no set behavior that was useful in all situations.  It frustrated her, but she was a realist and had accepted that she couldn''t control everything.


    Since Paolo and Sara''s marriage the year before, she''d been feeling increasingly deprived as her two "babies" were the only ones left who invariably enjoyed cuddling back.  Paolo was almost never available for a hug any more, and Eugenia was in the throes of teenhood, which meant that she was pretending that she didn''t like hugs at all.


    Of course Miranda still hugged her now and then. Genie would have hated it if she hadn''t. However it''s hard to get much satisfaction when you hug your daughter and she just stands there with her arms hanging at her side acting like the only thing in the entire world she wants is for you to stop.


    When it was time to stop reading, all three of them wished that there was some way to continue.  Nevertheless, Miranda gave them one last, good squeeze and mumured, "Sleep well my darlings.  You''ll begin your new game tomorrow.  It should be fun, for all of us."


    "Yes Mama."  "I think so too Mother."


    She kissed each of them on the forehead, then tucked them into bed.  After she closed the door, she admitted to herself that this new "game" she''d invented for the children would benefit her more than them.  All the new information would help her to impose more order on the city that existed in her mind''s eye, not to mention that it was likely to reveal all kinds of corruption and criminal activity.  It never ceased to amaze her that people would blabber on about all kinds of things they really shouldn''t talk about in public when "only" children were around.


    ------------------


    Over the ensuing two years, the twins became increasingly adept at ferreting out information, some of which proved instrumental in solving, or even preventing, a substantial number of crimes.


    ------------------


    September 03, in The Year 724 After the Founding


    Three weeks after the twins'' 11th birthday, Eugenia and Mario were married.  Their reception would be the first that the twins had ever been allowed to attend.  Just before they left, the twins approached Miranda.  "Mother, we wish to change our agreement."


    "Oh, you don''t say ''Suela?  Explain."


    "Yes Mother.  It''s not that we haven''t appreciated what the Fukui''s offer, but, to tell the truth, it''s getting harder and harder to become enthused about something you''ve had week after week.  So, we ah..."


    Stavros interjected, "We want books.  One book for each ''important'' bit of information or every five points of lesser information."


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Miranda assumed a thinking pose while fighting down the urge to jump up and down and pump her fist.  Since they were in a hallway, a multi-purpose area, it would technically have been allowable, but it would have ruined her image.


    "Very well.  However, it will need to depend on the book.  If you want something hard to find or expensive, it''s going to take more than just one ''important'' finding.  Rather than setting a fixed rate now, we''ll negotiate each time.  Will that do?"


    The twins looked at each other, then turned to their mother and bowed their acceptance.  Then the three of them joined the rest of the family, each of them certain that they''d gotten the best of the deal.


    After they arrived at the reception, as was usual in a group that was mostly adults, the children were completely ignored, except when they pretended to argue with each other.  At other times when various adults noticed that they were holding hands, the response was usually something along the line of: "Oh. That''s cute.  They get along so well!"


    The reality was rather different.  To be sure, they did get along exceedingly well, but they held hands at the reception for an entirely different reason.  They had accidentally discovered that they could speak in "twin" if they were touching each other.  Now I know what you''re going to say:  All twins can speak in "twin" without touching at all.


    That''s true.  However, to do so, the twins'' attention needs to turn inward to some extent.  In so doing, there''s a very typical facial expression that occurs that anyone living in The City could easily spot.


    Consuela and Stavros, when touching, could speak "twin" without the telltale change in their faces or their consciousness.   This allowed them to fully focus on different areas of their surroundings simultaneously and yet still be in constant communication with each other.  They''d put it to good use on numerous occasions when "scouting" for information for their mother.  Since their coloring was substantially different, most onlookers assumed that they were a couple, albeit a rather precocious one, and, as such, were focused on each other and not their surroundings.


    Consequently they had frequently been able to glean information from even those who were cautious with their speech when they were in public.


    Early on, the reception produced only a few interesting items that the twins could trade to their mother.   However, by 9 p.m. the ale and wine had been flowing for three hours, seeing as some guests had arrived an hour early. Between then and when the reception ended at 11  there was likely to be a great deal of useful information slipping out of a number of inebriated lips.


    Like everyone born in The City, the twins had a special skill.  It wasn''t dramatic like Eugenia''s invisibility, but it was just as useful as Paolo''s special hearing.  The downside of theirs was that it depended on being able to see their "target" clearly.  The upside was that instead of Paolo''s 10 meter range, theirs was closer to 40.


    As long as they could see a person''s face, they could read their lips with 100% accuracy.  As the reception wound down and tongues began to wag carelessly, they sat themselves on a settee at the edge of the hall.  They held hands, slumped toward each other with their shoulders and heads touching, looking in different directions, and were, seemingly, almost asleep.


    For the final hour and a half, they absorbed, cataloged, and sorted a great deal of information.  Most of it was trivial, some worth reporting in summary, and some which they memorized word for word.


    Before they had presented their mother with their book proposal, they''d scouted the various stores and shops within The City and had identified nearly a hundred volumes that interested them and weren''t available at home or in the libraries they had access to.  Before the night was over, they intended to have earned at least five or, hopefully, eight of them.


    Once they were well on their way home, they dropped their "sleepy child who stayed up too late" act and their eyes gleamed as they told their mother, "It''s a very good thing that there''s no school tomorrow.  It''s probably gonna take two or three hours for us to tell you everything."


    Miranda''s only response was a twitch of an eyebrow and a thoughtful expression.  Maybe, just maybe, for the first time in 20 years, someone else had gotten the best of a bargain with her after all.


    On entering Miranda''s office, they were surprised to find Mimi sitting behind the desk with a stack of paper and several pens in front of her.


    "Madame, please take your rest in your armchair.  I can write as quickly as they can speak.  You write so slowly that alll you could do is take notes, which means you''d miss a great deal."


    Mimi didn''t, quite, snort in exasperation. "Besides, unless you write even more slowly, you wouldn''t be able to read it tomorrow.  Your handwriting is atrocious."


    Miranda took her wounded pride over to her armchair and sat as directed.  Over the next three hours, much as she hated to admit it, Mimi, as always, had been correct.  An incredible torrent of information flowed from the twins.  As soon as one became tired from speaking, the other continued from where the first had stopped.  Miranda could never had recorded even a fifth part of it with any accuracy.


    In some ways, what was even more impressive was that Mimi never faltered.  Any ordinary human would have had severe cramps in her hand within 20 or 30 minutes.  After the twins had been sent to bed, and Miranda had given Mimi her profound thanks, she glanced over the notes.  Mimi''s handwriting on the last page was just as clear and as sure as on the first.  How very interesting, and how exceedingly annoying.


    Mimi had just given Miranda another piece to fit in the puzzle of the game they were playing.  At that moment in time, Miranda had absolutely no idea as to where the piece would finally go.  That was part of what made it so enjoyable.  If it was obvious each time Mimi gave Miranda a hint, the game wouldn''t be nearly as much fun.


    Well, there was no use dwelling on the unsolvable.  Instead she turned her attention to the pile of notes before her.  Even the little that she remembered would keep her busy for several days.  The amount of work implied by the height of the stack was on the mind-boggling level.  Even so Miranda looked at it with a sense of heady anticipation.  There would be so much more of The City that she would be able to put in order.


    Wonderful!

 Vol 3 - Ch 4 Books, Books, and more Books, plus an extra.

    Sunday  September 04 in The Year 724 AF


    The idea that Avellino had tried to kill someone in HER city still gnawed at her.  No, if she were honest with herself, it wasn''t that at all.  Avi was dead and no longer a problem.  It was the idea that someone else, anyone else, might try once again to interfere with the smooth workings of The CIty that was bothering her.  It was abundantly clear that she needed to expand her information network.  Until she figured how how to do so effectively, she knew that the constant irritation would color everything she did.


    A possibility that she''d not thought of previously took root while she was out shopping for the promised books with Stavros and Consuela that morning.  While they were "discussing" which of the books on their list they''d choose, given the number of new "points" they''d accumulated with the previous night''s information, Miranda lazed near the front counter of the bookstore.  Unlike them, she was at an age where she couldn''t be at 100% after only 3 1/2 hours sleep.


    The owner of this particular store, Patricia Garibaldi, knew the family well, so she completely ignored both the children and Miranda and went on about her business.  Truth be told, Miranda was half asleep and not worrying about her work as she usually was even on family outings.  That was why, instead of completely ignoring the discussions between Patricia and her customers, she absorbed their words very like one does when listening absently to someone in a dream.


    Some few of the other customers looked pointedly at Miranda before completing their business, but were reassured when Patricia rolled her eyes and whispered to them, "Eldest daughter got married last night."  Most of the customers chuckled or at least looked sympathetic, assuming, incorrectly, that Miranda had a hangover.  Afterwards they completed their transactions and went on their way.


    Soon enough the twins returned with a stack of books.  They''d been promised six or seven books, but they''d brought out 12.  They''d snuck two rather rare and expensive volumes into the middle 1/3 of the pile, hoping that their mother wouldn''t notice as she winnowed down the number.  They knew that the chance was less than 1%, but hope springs eternal and all that.


    To their astonishment, Miranda merely glanced over at them and asked, "Finished?  If so, let''s be on our way.  There''s a lot yet to do today."


    Patricia hurriedly tallied the prices.  Sometimes Miranda spent enough that there was no possibility of carrying sufficient coin on one''s person to pay for them, and it looked like this was one of those times.  She''d send the bill to the bank, as she always did in such cases.  The bank would then deposit the money in her account, which saved her a trip.  All things considered, the total was about average for one of Miranda''s sprees.


    Even so, she was impressed in spite of herself, as she''d never have expected children as young as these to be aware of, much less to appreciate, several volumes in the pile.


    Miranda headed for home, totally ignoring the rare absence of sound from the twins behind her.  They were still reeling in shock, and speaking would be rather difficult, not that they desired to do so.  Given some odd events in the past, they were even worried that she might overhear something they said in "twin."  If Miranda "woke up," from whatever state she was in, she might  make them take most of the books back.  She was definitely focused on something, and they had no intention of upsetting the figurative apple cart.  In reality it wasn''t that she had other things on her mind, but, rather, it was that she couldn''t quite figure out what it was that ought to be on her mind.


    As always Mimi let them in when they arrived home.  Miranda nodded absently at her then shambled her way to her office.  Mimi gave the twins a sharp look, demanding an explanation.  They shrugged their shoulders and shook their heads, denying any knowledge of what was going on.


    Thought it was unexpected, Mimi realized that they were telling the truth.  Most curious.  Her attention was then drawn to the books in their arms.  Oh...my....


    Much as she hated mimicking human gestures, she felt both her eyebrows rising.  However, falling on the floor in a dead faint was DEFINITELY not a human trait she would copy, no matter how much she felt like doing so at  the moment.  She pursed her lips in a silent whistle, composed herself, then said, "Once you''ve put your books away, you will write out a list of your purchases and take it and yourselves to the Cathedral of Whispers.  You will request an audience with your sister-in-law and wait, quietly, until she finds time for you."


    She smiled at them when they flinched.  "No, you''re not in trouble, anything but.  At least this time....


    "The reason you''re to seek out Sara is that one of the volumes you brought home is probably the only existing copy of a work that was thought to have been lost more than a thousand years ago.  There have been rumors of it existing, but it was felt to be a myth.


    "Stavros, you are to stand very close to Sara when she reads the list.  You''ll need to catch her if she faints when she sees the title.  Once she regains her composure, the two of you will have to make a choice.  You may keep the book, after allowing a copy to be made for the library, or you may allow the book to be placed in the cathedral''s spell-protected stacks and wait until copies are made.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    "If you chose the former, you ought to know that the preservation spell currently on the book will fade completely within the next three or four years and will need to be recast.  For a work of this age and condition, the cost will be on the order of 2,000 ducats.


    "In the lattter case I shall be certain that you receive the very first copy."


    She nodded at the mixture of excitement, shock, and disappointment on their faces.  It was natural that they wanted to have something rare and valuable for themselves, but they also knew that they could never afford to pay for renewing the preservation spell.


    Mimi caught their attention by clearing her throat.  "Should you choose to donate the volume to the library, I''m certain that both Archbishop Comfort and Duchess Henrietta will be most pleased.  Given your rather extraordinary ability to get into trouble, it might be handy in the future to have them kindly disposed toward you."


    They grinned at her then sobered.  ''Suela asked, "Mimi, just how much is the book worth?   You haven''t even told us which one it is."


    She grinned back.  "No I haven''t, have I?  As to its value, if you found the right collector, you could probably get a quarter-million ducats for it.  Such a collector would, of course, not allow any copies to be made as it would dilute the value of the original.  Also, as handling it could cause damage, nobody would be allowed to read it."


    A shockingly large flare of pure, unadulterated greed radiated from the twins when they heard the value of the book.  It was immediately followed, and extinguished by, an even stronger surge of indignation.  Knowledge was meant to be shared, and locking up the contents of a unique and important book was, to them, a crime akin to murder.


    Mimi wasn''t sure she''d personally consider them equivalent, but she was more than pleased to see the twins firmly put knowledge ahead of money.


    They put their palms together briefly to allow a private discussion without offending Mimi by, even temporarily, ignoring her.  Decision made.


    "Mimi, if you will please take the books and make sure that they are in a secure place?  We''ll just get on over to the cathedral and tell Sara that we wish to make a donation.  Having a lot of money would be nice, but seeing the look on her face when she hears us recite the title of that book is going to be a rare treat!  It''ll be even more choice since we won''t know which title is the one that''s gonna make her pass out until we see her reaction.  Bye."


    With that they handed the books to Mimi, spun around and raced down the street.  Fortunately, they remembered to use the door.  Blinking to the other side at this time of day would have resulted in some very difficult questions being asked by those who saw them.


    --------------------


    Luckily, since their almost non-existent patience was being tried to the extreme as they waited, Sara was just finishing a meeting with Archbishop Comfort, and she invited them in to be introduced before the Archbishop left.


    The twins took each other''s hands as they tried to control their glee.  If Sara was going to pass out, they were almost ecstatic as they discussed what the Archbishop''s reaction was likely to be.


    First they bowed politely and murmured the appropriate children''s responses to being introduced to an "important person."  Before the Archbishop could excuse herself and leave, they spoke, "Mimi sent us over to tell you about some books we bought today.  She said it was important that we tell you immediately."


    That nailed the Archbishop''s feet to the floor.  Her curiosity was one of her strongest traits.  There was no way she was going to leave until she heard the details.  Maybe there''d be something she could tell her husband about at dinner.


    They took turns reciting the names of the books, both watching the reactions of the others, waiting to see what might happen.  Sara twitched when they got to fourth one, but that couldn''t be the one Mimi was talking about.  Sara''d probably done that because it was one of the ones that cost a lot.


    When they got to sixth, they were still taking turns speaking, "It''s really strange."  "This next one we bought that is."  "It''s strange cause we couldn''t read the writing."  "No Stavros, it wasn''t that.  There are a lot of languages we can''t read."  "Oh, yeah, you''re right.  It was cause we couldn''t even tell what language it was."  "Uh-huh, but the writing was really pretty somehow."  "That''s right, I wish we could have read the title...."


    They paused for several seconds then woodenly took each other''s hand, turned to face Sara and the Archbishop, then spoke in unison, their eyes vague and unfocused, "The Compact.  An irrevocable delineation of the rules of engagement for those fighting for control of the planet known as Earth IV and its analogs."


    As the children fought off a sudden wave of light-headedness, they heard the ladies exclaim: "Lady Blue!"  "Mist Maiden!"  "Get your sorry ass down here RIGHT NOW!"


    When their dizziness passed, Conseula and Stavros noticed that there was an intense argument of some sort going on across the room.  Sara and Lucina were taking turns yelling at a third person who was floating in the air between them.  Floating?


    The rubbed their eyes with both fists, took the other''s hand again, and looked closely.  Yes.  She was floating.  They thought about it for a moment.  Oh, of course. She was much shorter than the others, so she had to float else she couldn''t be at eye level with them while they spoke.  Problem solved.


    Or not!  What the heck was going on?  How do you float in midair, and why in the world was she glowing?  They did have to admit that it was a pretty shade of blue, but really!  People don''t glow.  It isn''t done.  One isn''t supposed to draw undue attention to oneself in public.


    They continued their own silent conversation and, eventually, concluded that this really wasn''t what one could call "in public" so the rule about standing out didn''t apply.  That was when they noticed it.  Lucina and Sara were waving their arms and yelling, at least it sure looked like it.  So why couldn''t they hear anything?


    The kids turned their attention fully outward.  Nope.  Not a sound.  Every so often one of the others would turn and look at them.  If it was Sara or Lucina the looks on their faces ranged from astonishment to incredulity.  The little blue person''s looks could only be described as self-satisfied smirks.


    Then the true oddity of the situation struck them.  They couldn''t "read" a single word anyone was saying.  That had never happened, not even once, since their ability manifested.


    For just a second, the little blue person turned her head toward them and winked.  Then she refocused her infuriating smile on Sara and Lucina.

 Vol 3 - Ch 5

    Miranda was totally oblivious to what had just happened in her home, and to the world in general, truth be told.  She was sitting at her desk with her head in her hands.  Something....  Something important had happened at the bookstore and she hadn''t a clue what it was.


    Let''s see....  She''d been leaning against the wall, half asleep, not thinking of anything at all.  Something had happened that should have gotten her attention but hadn''t....  Oh my GOD!  The books.  The sound of Patricia''s voice reciting the total price reverberated in her memory.  It has been almost 300 ducats!  She''d intended to spend no more than 65.  No wonder the children had been totally silent on the way home.


    While that was indeed a shock, there was still something nagging at her.  Whatever it was that was bothering her, the revelation of how much she''d just spent wasn''t it.


    Before she could track the idea down, there was a quiet knock on her door.  Upon being granted permission, Mimi entered.  For the first time ever, Miranda saw that Mimi was nervous.  Not only did she look nervous, but she was also extremely frightened.  Her arms were wrapped around something she was holding tightly to her chest.  Without even invoking her mage sight, Miranda could see that whatever it was was radiating an incredible amount of energy.  She wasn''t sure what kind it was though.  She''d never seen anything quite like this before.


    "Madame.  I need your help.  As soon as possible, no, probably before that, I need you to arrange an escort of as many of your ''special'' operatives as you can summon without there being so many around me on my way to the Cathedral of Whispers that people will notice them.


    "They will need to be instructed that they must intercept anyone or anything that attempts to interfere with my passage, no matter what the means they must use.  Also, blunt objects will not be effective should there be an attack.  Only knives have a hope of stopping them should one or more of them appear.


    "Once we arrive you will need to combine your powers with those of Archbishop Comfort in order to cast a masking spell upon what I am holding.  She is already there.  I shall be able to supress its emanations while we are in transit, but no longer than that.  My powers in that area are much inferior to yours."


    Miranda didn''t bother trying to parse what she''d just heard.  What she saw, as well as the person making the request impressed her with the urgency of whatever it was.  She rang the bell on her desk and told the man who appeared, "abide a while."


    She then hurriedly wrote out two notes.  "Deliver one to Captain Murray and the other to Hiroshi Macklin.  They are identical, so read one on your way and relay the information to whomever you think we can break free from what they''re doing.  Coordinate with the other two.  All must be in readiness within 30 minutes."


    Once he''d left, Miranda stood and approached Mimi.  She extended her hand, very slowly, in a sense "tasting" the object Mimi was holding.


    "Oh...my...."


    When she was a meter away, she was able to discern an inverted egg-shaped energy field that entirely enclosed Mimi and the object.  As best she could tell, the energy she had felt previously was only about a sixth of the total it was radiating.


    "Mimi - when did...."


    Mimi interrupted her, "It began to radiate when the twins recited its name to Ms. Sara and the Archbishop.  I had not expected that they would have been able to....  For now that is not important.  What is important is that saying its name, if you have certain abilities, will, in a sense, summon it.  Once it arrives at the location where it was named, and you seal it, the energy level should drop back to barely more than that of an ordinary object.


    "It is quite capable of going there by itself, but I felt that having thousands of people seeing an intensely glowing object flying across The City might not be a good idea.  That is the reason why I restrained it.  I am also unsure of exactly where the twins were when they named it, and I think that when it is revealed as what it is, it should be someplace very private indeed.


    "In addition, should its energies reveal this ''verse to a certain being, it is highly likely that it would result in the instant obliteration of this planet.  It is for that reason that the escort is needed and why they must be merciless should I be attacked."


    For the first time in over a decade, Miranda was speechless.  She nodded compliance, and they waited.


    Once all was ready, Miranda led the way to the Cathedral, with Mimi following two steps behind as was proper for a maid.  They were surrounded by an ever-shifting, surprisingly large number of defenders who, while not seeming to be anything other than ordinary people walking down the street, always had at least half their attention on the area around those they were secretly escorting.


    Upon their arrival, Mimi marched directly into Sara''s office with Miranda close behind.  Immediately after carefully closing the door and erecting a silence about the room, Miranda spotted the argument that was still going on, along with the twins who were standing in the middle of the room and not moving.  Rather, they were leaning forward, as if by so doing so they could somehow see or hear what was going on in front of them.


    While Miranda was trying to sort out the combination of beings present, Mimi took her arm and pulled her across the room.  When they got within two meters of the trio in front of them, sound returned.  It was an opportune moment as Sara and Lucina were just taking deep breaths in preparation of continuing their rants.


    "That will be quite enough of that.  Quit acting like children and do something constructive."


    Thus far they hadn''t noticed Mimi or Miranda approaching.  Mimi''s voice, and the disgusted tone  hit them like a wet dishtowel in the face.


    "Lucina and Miranda.  Come here.  Each of you put one hand on either side of the book."  Mimi held it out vertically in front of her.  "Well, get on with it!"


    Both of them were shocked.  Normally a maid doesn''t give orders to either an archbishop or her employer.  Fortunately, the combination of their shock and the commanding tone of Mimi''s voice had the desired result and they did as they''d been told.


    "Very good.  Now, do whatever it is you do to mask its power.  Once that is done, it will be safe to let Stavros and Conseula touch it.  That will shut down its need to seek those who spoke its name.  After that you will have time to discuss what to do next."


    She let go of the book which was now firmly supported by Miranda and Lucina''s hands. Very good.  They were beginning their spell and had all their attention on the book.


    She pivoted toward Lady Blue and glowered at her. When she spoke, her voice carried overtones of glacial ice, scorn, and censure,  "I am rather wroth with you.  Your so-called sense of humor makes Hibiki''s look normal.  You''re MUCH too full of yourself, and your behavior is completely unacceptable!  Hopefully, you''ll grow up, at least a little bit, in the near future.  When you have, I expect you to think things through completely rather than causing so much trouble for those around you...as you have today by sneaking a copy of The Compact into what the children purchased.  If your attitude does not improve, significantly, in the VERY near future, I shall inform your mother, and she will decide if you will be allowed to remain involved with this project.   I WILL NOT allow your infantile antics to put the plan at risk."


    Even though Mimi''s back was to them, and they still couldn''t hear anything, Stavros and Consuela recognized Lady Blue''s expression.  It was exactly the same as theirs when they''d been caught doing something both incredibly stupid AND dangerous.  Whatever it was, the little blue person was in a great deal of trouble.


    Blue came to exactly the same conclusion.  For the first time she saw in Mimi a fully mature, angry, and powerful adult.  Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that Mimi couldn''t carry out her threat if Blue opposed her.  Blue''s powers were many orders of magnitude greater than Mimi''s.  That knowledge was overwhelmed by Mimi''s attitude of authority.  For her species, Blue was still a child, and like any child who had gotten herself into deep trouble, her response to an angry adult who''d caught her acting like an irresponsible idiot was instinctive.


    Blue brought herself to attention, bowed deeply, said, "Yes Ma''am!," and vanished.


    A few seconds later Miranda and Lucina finished chanting.  They were panting, but otherwise looked to be OK.  Mimi gestured to the twins.  "Come here and touch the book, both of you.  Then we shall be as safe as we can be given the situation."


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    They didn''t even glance at each other.  They scurried over and did as they had been bidden.  After seeing what Mimi had done to the blue person, they didn''t want her attention on them for any longer than was necessary.


    There was a slight tingle in their hands when they touched the book.  Immediately afterwards a tension in the air that they''d not noticed previously became apparent due to it being dispelled.


    Mimi turned to the twins and smiled broadly. "Well done children.  I shall consider the events of today the next time  you do something incredibly stupid.  Perhaps, well, we''ll see, won''t we?"


    Sara and Archbishop Comfort caught their breaths, then had a hurried, whispered conversation; after which Sara tucked the book under her arm and nonchalantly moseyed out of the room.


    Lucina turned to the rest.  "She''ll be putting it in the most secure section of the protected stacks.  We have a section there with shielding heavy enough that even most of the priests who are also mages don''t remember that it exists."


    Miranda exclaimed, "But..that doesn''t make any sense!  Sara doesn''t have all that much power.  If the spell is so strong that it keeps most of your mages out, she should forget where she''s going when she''s 20 meters away."


    Lucina rolled her eyes.  "Miranda, for someone who usually seems to be as smart as you do, and you must be or you wouldn''t be working with Dot,  you sometimes say the most incredibly stupid things.


    "You ought to know that one of the first rules of magery is that one does not ever do an assessment of the powers of a relative or someone else one is close to.  Sara fills both those positions."


    Unlike earlier, when Mimi had her back to them, the twins could see their mother''s face.  That was the day they realized that it was possible for, "I''m a total idiot,"  "This is incredibly embarrassing," and "Please don''t tell anyone else how stupid I just was," to be visible on someone''s face all at the same time.  They immediately, albeit slowly, turned and faced another direction.  If they''d done it rapidly, their mother would have spotted them instantly.  This way there was at least some chance that she wouldn''t notice that they''d noticed.  They weren''t sure what the consequences would be if they''d been noticed noticing, but they absolutely did NOT want to find out either.


    They heard Lucina''s voice continue, "Sara has a rather unusual ability.  Well, to be truthful, I''ve never heard of it before, but it certainly serves her well as Librarian.  She can detect Avoidance spells, and can avoid them.  Which means that, should she so desire, she could find and penetrate the most powerful protective spells used by the strongest mages in the world.  In fact it would be easier for her as the stronger they are, the easier it is for her to spot them.


    "Wipe that look off your face Miranda!  She will NEVER use that ability except in her library work, so don''t even begin to think of using her in the field.  She''s already found nearly 20 important texts that we thought had been lost forever as well as a number of lesser works that had weaker protections on them but still confounded those who needed them.  Every other month she makes time to scan several shelves and often finds one or two."


    Lucina assumed the mantle of Archbishop.  "I forbid you from ever mentioning your desire to have her work for you.  Leave her be to do the work she loves and to love her family.  I care not what your abilities were in the past nor what they are now.  Both of us know that, even though you''re one of the most powerful mages of the past forty years, you''re not nearly strong enough to best me.  While I was training you, I learned ALL of your weaknesses.  I doubt you have even the slightest appreciation of mine."


    She smiled sweetly at Miranda.  "I trust that we understand each other on this matter?"


    "Yes.  Yes.  To be sure.  I wasn''t really considering.... Ah.  Well.  No.  That is, ''yes'' I understand your position and mine as well."


    She turned toward the twins with an intent expression and found them turning around as well.  They were holding hands and were themselves radiating some degree of power that she''d not ''seen'' previously.


    They bowed.  "Mother.  Be assured that we shall never mention this to any other being for as long as we live.  Nor shall we even discuss it among ourselves.  As of this moment, the past five minutes are as if they never existed."


    Mimi walked up behind them and laid a hand on one of each of their shoulders.  She smiled down at them lovingly then looked Miranda and Lucina directly in the eye.  "They have spoken the truth.  Our kind never betrays such a promise."


    She brushed the front of her uniform so as to smooth it.  "I shall take them home and see to it that they eat.  It''s a bit past their lunchtime, and children at this age tend to get irritable if they''re not fed regularly."


    She cocked her head to the side and continued in a soft voice, "I suspect that it has something to do with growth spurts or some such."


    Shrugging her shoulders, she added, "Whatever the cause, it really isn''t that important right now.  We shall leave you to conclude your discussion.  Come children, let us be on our way."


    Using the hands on their shoulders to turn them, she guided them out the door, then softly closed it, leaving Lucina and Miranda alone.


    "Manda, what the heck is going on?  She''s not just a maid.  What in the world is she really?"


    This time it was Miranda who shrugged.  "Frankly, I have no idea.  Every so often she gives me a hint.  It''s a game we''ve been playing for years.  It''s fascinating and a great deal of fun.  I have hopes that someday I''ll figure it out. When I do, we can start another game.  Given what she''s done so far, I expect that the next one she comes up with will be even more exciting."


    "Miranda, you do realize, don''t you, that she just as much as told us that, whatever she is, your twins are of the same nature."


    Miranda shrugged again and this time had the expression of someone who had just witnessed a miracle.  "I''ve known for some time that they''re different from the rest of us, and that they may, perhaps, not be entirely human, at least as we understand the word.


    "One thing I AM totally sure of is that I bore them just as I did my other two.  Whatever their original nature may be, they are still my children and I love them just as much as the others."


    She grinned widely.  "Besides, they have enough mischief in them for five.  It takes both of us, Mimi and I, to keep them from causing more chaos than they already do.  If it were just one of us raising them....  I shudder to think of it."


    For a moment she wasn''t thinking of anything at all, just feeling the flow of all the different emotions that were floating past.  That was when it finally hit her.


    "THAT''S IT!  That''s what I was missing.  When they were going all gaga over the books at Patricia''s place, I was half-asleep at the counter.  People were talking to her about all sorts of things, some of which were interesting and a few even useful.


    "Tell me Master.  Just how much of what happens in the libraries is Sara aware of?"


    Lucina had no idea of what Miranda was talking about concerning "they" and who this Patricia was.  However, at least for now, it didn''t matter.  She''d have a discussion with Manda later about properly organizing her thoughts before blurting things out.  It seems she hadn''t learned that lesson as well as she''d originally thought.


    "Truth be told, she''s probably aware of at least the general thrust of every single research project, whether large or small.  Of all the things you and Blair taught her, the one that seems to have stuck the most is the idea that she ought to know at least something of everything that occurs in her ''territory''.   She''s organized her staff so that the gist of every request for research materials lands on her desk.  She says that it''s so she can schedule which requests for new purchases get priority and which books are shelved first when they''re returned, ''to make sure that whatever is most requested is also most accessible''."


    Miranda found herself rubbing her hands together and quickly stuck them behind her back.  "Ah, would it be possible for that list of projects, and the names of whomever is doing them to be routed to me?  Mostly it probably won''t be important, but we might just tease out the beginnings of a plot here and there."


    She bowed to Lucina.  "Would that be permissible?"


    Lucina glared at her then smiled.  "You reprobate!  You''d spy on your own grandmother if you thought you''d find out something useful."


    Miranda nodded, then, with a completely straight face said, "That''s right.  What''s your point?"


    Lucina raised an eyebrow in a manner that revealed who Miranda had been trying to copy the past 20 years, then made a "What can you do with them when they''re like this?" gesture.


    "All right.  I''ll see what I can arrange.  Since you''ve mentioned it, it might be a good idea to keep track of what my own staff are studying.  Some of them tend to be on the confrontational side.  I suspect that bastard Sixtus may be the one ultimately responsible.  He dislikes women in general and female priests in particular.


    If I know what they''re doing, with Sara''s help I can research their topics first and in greater depth.  Then when they hit me with their not-so-subtle arguments to try to derail what I''ve told them to do, I can cut them off at the knees with my lordly ''The Archbishop knows everything.'' reply."


    They shared a friendly and comfortable smile of co-conspirators.


    "Sound''s good to me Master.  I''ll just take my leave now and let you get on with your plotting.  I''ll be looking forward to Sara regaling us at dinner some night in the future about how some uppity, parochial, Monsignor was put in his place when you proved that you know more than he does about the Church."


    With a jaunty wave of her hand, Miranda let herself out and closed the door.  From that point on, all of her rubbing her hands together in glee took place in her head.  She was in public now, and such an activity was inappropriate there.


    What she hadn''t mentioned to Lucina was that the plan developing in her mind consisted of setting up information gathering procedures at all the bookstores and lesser libraries in The City.  Not all those doing research before putting their various plots in motion would be using the great libraries.  The most astute plotters might well avoid them  as a matter of course, reasoning that bookstores or smaller libraries would be safer locations for obtaining needed information.


    Given that the twins had specifically chosen Patricia''s shop as the site of their first foray rather than heading to the closest bookstore, she suspected that they''d been rather busy checking out as many as possible before beginning.  In that they were both like her.  They hated doing things only part way.


    First she''d let them tell her all about each owner, and their employees, if there were any.  They''d probably be thrilled to learn that she was interested in what they were doing even when they weren''t collecting information for her.  It was likely that all she''d have to say to get them started was something like:  "Did you visit any other shops besides Mrs. Garibaldi''s before you went shopping, or were you just ''winging it'' because I usually go there?"  The implied insult, that they were sloppy and hadn''t done any research before choosing a store, should be enough to get them talking.  After that, all she''d need to do is smile and nod now and then.

 Vol 3 - Ch 6 Books and more books

    She put her idea into play at dinner that evening.  It went exactly as predicted, for a while. Then things got interesting.


    Stavros was saying, "There''s a new store we found a few days ago.  Well, I guess it''s more that it''s new to us.  The building looks kinda old.  Anyway, the owner is an old person who is a real grouch...ah...I mean...uh...doesn''t seem to like kids much.  He almost threw us out of the store, but before he could ''Suela mentioned a few of the titles we were looking for. That''s when he stopped yelling and actually looked at us."


    He looked over to Consuela and she took up the story, "It was almost as scary as when she was being nasty at us.  She just stared for a good half a minute, then she started to stroke her chin and said something like, ''Well.  Well.  I guess the younger generation isn''t entirely hopeless.''  That''s when she waved her arm at the store, like she was telling us to go ahead and look around.  After that she sat down and picked up the book she was reading when we first came in."


    ''Suela did a quick look around and saw that she had the attention of everyone at the table.  For the first time, she realized that getting attention for doing something good hurt a lot less than when it happened because she was in trouble again.


    "Anyway, we looked around, real careful like, with our hands behind our backs."


    Figuring that if her mother was interested and went with them the next time, it would be easier to do a more thorough examination of the stock, ''Suela smiled at her mother with a calculating look.  "There were a LOT of books that looked really interesting.  Most of them we haven''t seen at any of the other stores."


    Before Miranda could say anything, Stavros said, "It was really funny though.  There was this one set of shelves in the back.  We could see it from the door, but somehow when we wanted to go look there, we found ourselves getting turned around, like we were lost or something.  And it happened three times!  We never did manage to look at what was on them."


    Nobody moved, but there was a sudden change in the atmosphere of the room.  Miranda turned casually to Sara.  "Do you have anything pressing on your schedule tomorrow afternoon?  If not, why don''t we go see what this gentlebeing has to offer.  Perhaps Paolo could accompany us?  We''ll need someone to carry what we buy.  What do you think?"


    Sara made a show of thinking it over, and then nodded slowly.  It wouldn''t have fooled a professional, but she was getting close.  "Yes.  That sounds interesting.  Let''s do that.  We''ll be up early enough that I can send a message to Bishop Lundgren and ask for Paolo''s services for the afternoon."


    She turned to her husband with a mildly wicked grin.  "We even have a messenger right here, so I won''t have to go find one."


    She batted her eyes coquettishly at Paolo.


    He pursed his lips briefly, then resumed his dinner.  He''d have her explain what was going on later, after they were private.  The way that she and his mother were talking around the subject, it was clear that it wasn''t appropriate to discuss at dinner.


    Genie and Mario didn''t even twitch and continued their meal.  They''d talk about...whatever it was...later.


    Miranda turned back to the twins.  "You two can lead us to the store after school...and after you finish your homework.  I assume that you will so do quickly, efficiently, and accurately so as not to keep all the rest of us waiting.  Is that not so?"


    Seeing their vigorous, almost frantic gestures of assent Miranda continued, "Very well then.  it being a Monday tomorrow, and all the stores being open till at least 9 p.m., let''s plan on an early dinner for a change.  Then we can leave here by 6:00 and have plenty of time to explore whatever we find when we get there."


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    That night, as she was almost asleep, it hit her, hard enough that she sat bolt upright in bed and exclaimed, "There''s no way it could be that easy!"


    Fortunately Robert was a sound sleeper, or it was rather that, after being married over 20 years, he''d become accustomed to her antics and they no longer roused him.


    It was beyond delicious, and all the players needed were already at hand.  The only thing missing was information about the specifics, and she knew right were to find those too.


    Unfortunately for her, she''d never acquired the knack, or practiced the discipline that would allow her to immediately go back to sleep after formulating a new plan.  As a result, she was awake another two hours before she managed to drift off.


    ----------------------------


    The next morning she had no problem arranging time alone with Mimi.  The younger three children were all at school, Robert, Sara, and Paolo were at work, and Mario was doing therapy at Dr. Kastner''s.  She sat herself down in her office, not behind her desk but in an easy chair to the side.  She''d arranged another across from it.  She didn''t want this to feel like an inquisition or a master giving orders to a servant, though she was seriously beginning to wonder if Mimi could be considered such.  Given what she''d learned in the past day, and adding in the earlier puzzle pieces she''d been handed, Miranda hoped that she at least rated the title of "co-conspirator" in Mimi''s eyes.


    Well, brooding about possibilities was going to get her nowhere, so, "Mimi, would you please join me for a while?"


    "Indeed.  I was wondering when you would call.  Assuming that you would, I''ve completed my morning duties.  My time is yours until I must ready things for lunch."


    Unlike her usual prim-and-proper demeanor, Mimi was lounging on the chair across from Miranda, seemingly totally relaxed.


    Miranda decided to soldier on and see where things went.  Trying to second-guess herself at this point would be futile, it would probably confuse her, and it would definitely make her look like an idiot.


    "Very well then.  You needn''t go into any details, but how far can you go when you do, whatever it is, when you travel from one place to another so quickly?"


    Mimi sorted through her options at almost lightning speed.  She had expected this particular question to arise eventually, but what she''d been prepared for were ones relating to her use of magic the day before.


    "Once again you''ve managed to surprise me. I had not foreseen that particular question at this particular time."


    Mimi cocked her head to the side and grinned.  "But then that''s what makes being here so much fun.  If one were able to anticipate everything exactly, life would be altogether boring."


    Her eyes took on the unfocused look that twins have when speaking to each other.  "Let me see....  Assuming you mean on this particular planet, I believe that it would be safe to say that, oh, say...hmmm....   Yes.  That measurement would be appropriate.


    She shrugged herself into a more erect posture and faced Miranda directly.  "You may consider that London would be a doable distance, though it would be difficult to do so more than once or twice a week."


    (Please note class that her statement was true, as far as it went.  Any more frequently than that would seriously interfere with her duties.  Her thinking at the time was that giving Miranda something concrete to latch onto would, probably, prevent her from pursuing all the ramifications of "blinking," which would be highly premature and possibly extremely dangerous.)


    To say the least, Miranda was elated, though she contrived to show nothing of her feelings in either her expression or body language.


    Mimi found herself unexpectedly impressed.  She couldn''t read Miranda at all.


    "I see.  Thank you Mimi.  That being the case, if you would please arrange it so you can accompany us on our trip to the bookstore this afternoon?  I suspect that there may be some other volumes that aren''t exactly what they seem, and your input would be most valuable."


    Mimi nodded her aquiesence.  While it was highly unlikely that there would be any other dangerous books in The City, she didn''t relish the possibility of having her tail bitten by relying on that assumption.  She stood and bowed.  The time for chatting was over.


    "I shall be pleased to do so Madame.  Dinner will be ready promptly at 5 p.m. so that we may leave on schedule."


    Miranda stood.  "Thank you Mimi, for both your time and for the information.  I shall do my best to put it to good use."


    Mimi nodded then whisked herself away and closed the door behind her.  If she were going to accompany Miranda and the others, she needed to instruct the staff as to what to do while they were gone.

 Vol 3 - Ch 7 A Small Revelation

    After getting out of school, the twins rushed home and to their rooms, not even stopping at their favorite snack stall.  They changed their clothes then hurried to do their homework, double checking each other all the way to make sure that there were no errors.  Given their mother''s attitude the previous night, they knew that not even the slightest mistake would be tolerated this time.


    Somehow they managed to finish everything, check it again, and present themselves to the dining room with three minutes to spare.


    They were panting somewhat, both from having run down from their rooms and due to their anxiety, but Miranda merely gave them a once-over look, nodded, then gestured them to their seats.


    Conversation at dinner was no different from the usual, but the tension in the room was climbing steadily.  As the meal progressed, it rose to a point that all anyone felt when dinner was over was a sense of relief and release.


    Robert rose and excused himself, pleading the need to finish up a meeting with Hiroshi about something or other.  The rest gathered together and followed him out the door except that they turned left instead of to the right toward the bank.


    After leaving, the twins lead the way downhill to a part of town that was right on the border between a lower, middle-class neighborhood and one where those of lesser means resided.


    Eugenia, who, out of curiosity (and due to some degree of boredom if we''re being honest), had tagged along and brought Mario with her, turned to him and whispered, "Not exactly where you''d expect to find a bookstore, is it?"


    Mario bonked her lightly on the head.  "Turn your mind on Love.  Just about everyone likes a good story, and you''re forgetting something important.  Almost everyone in The City learns to read.  You know, compulsory education and all that?"


    "Well, yes, all of that, but... I mean, books are still expensive.  It hasn''t been all that long since printing presses were introduced to Europe.  So, how do people here...."  She waved her hand at their surroundings, "find the wherewithal to buy them?"


    Mario laughed.  "You''re not thinking like a merchant, which of course I don''t expect...yet.  If there''s a market, someone will fill it somehow.  You can find cheap books for as little as a few soldini nowadays.  They may be so flimsy that they don''t last long, but they''re still very popular.  It''s a lot better than not having anything to read.  Don''t forget that other than here in The City, libraries that the public can use are almost non-existent in Europe.  It''s either a bookstore, or nothing for most people.  That and trading with friends and neighbors."


    He took a deep breath, then shook his head.  "I''m amazed and a bit chagrined by it all.  People with almost nothing are buying books that you and I wouldn''t even glance at much less buy.  Once they have them, they''re treating them as family treasures, which, in a sense, they are.


    "I''d wager that some of their books last longer than many that are properly printed and bound.  You take care of what you value, and they truly treasure them.  They worked, hard, to earn the money to buy those books.  For a lot of rich people, having books is nothing but a way to show off how much money they have.  They don''t really care if they get destroyed by a leak in the roof as long as they fill up the bookshelves and look good from a distance."


    Even from behind her, Genie could tell by Miranda''s posture that she was thinking something along the lines of, "Hah!  He got you good.  Maybe you''d better think for a moment before you start flapping your lips next time."


    She opened her mouth for a rejoinder then realized that, whatever she said, she''d just dig herself a deeper hole.  Her jaw snapped shut.  Not getting in the last word wasn''t very satisfying, but it was much better than being cut off at the knees.


    The twins, being some distance ahead, hadn''t heard any of the conversation.  Sara and Paolo, who were just ahead of Genie and Mario turned and looked at each other with huge smiles on their faces.  Then they faced forward again and continued on their way without saying anything.


    Genie ground her teeth.  Argh!  They were rubbing it in, and they''d managed to do so without making a sound.  She took a deep breath and gave up.  They were older and, though she hated to admit it, wiser...apparently even her useless brother Paolo.


    As she was mulling over that disturbing insight, she had turned her attention inward and was no longer watching where she was going.  Just in time Mario grabbed her collar and prevented her from running into Mimi''s back, everyone else having stopped at their destination.


    Looking up she saw an old, somewhat decrepit-looking, north-facing warehouse with a faded sign that said "Brewster''s Books" just above the door.  There were a number of small, high windows, presumably to let in light without it damaging the contents of the building.  There was also a rather large window of about two by three meters to the right of the door.  It was composed of a latticework of small panes that were each approximately 20 x 30 cm.


    The twins led the way in.  Two meters directly inside there was a wide counter. There was a wall situated another two meters behind it.  That was bare except for a sign saying: "Brewster''s Books    Proprietor: Mckale O''Malley."  While not large, the calligraphy on it was gorgeous.


    Behind the counter, sitting in an easy chair and just setting down a book, was a totally average looking person of no particular ethnic origin.  Standing up and focusing on the twins they said, "Well. Back again.  I''m surprised, given how I treated you last time...or perhaps not."


    Switching attention to the others, and pursing their lips, "Interesting.  I see where your interest in books came from now, and such an impressive group it is that you''ve brought with you. Let''s see what we have."


    Looking Miranda up and down. "The woman who won''t be satisfied till she knows everything about everyone."


    Shifting to Sara.  "And the woman who won''t be satisfied till she has contrived to assemble a repository of everything known about everything."


    Then adding in a whisper, "And who has enough love in her heart to encompass an entire universe...and perhaps even more than that."


    Next it was Paolo''s turn.  "Heh.  I seem to have nothing but seekers here today.  It''s going to be fascinating to watch what you do once you''ve decided what it will be.


    "Furthermore....."


    There was a sudden gust of wind kicked up by the passage of Mimi whose view of the owner had until then been obscured by the taller people in front of her.  The next anyone knew she was on her knees beside their chair, rubbing her cheek over and over again on their left, upper arm and holding the arm down with her hands, as if to prevent them from disappearing.


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    "Master!  It''s been such a long time.  I''ve missed you so much!"


    The purr emanating from her was loud enough that not only the beings around her but the building itself was vibrating in resonance.


    Into the shocked silence, O''Malley spoke with a rough edge to their voice, "I''ve missed you too little one. More than you might imagine.  I promise not to run away, so if you will let me stand up?"


    Mimi let go, albeit reluctantly, though she still leaned against them.  If anything her purr increased in volume.


    "Welcome to my bookstore, and to be honest, what is even more so my retreat.  But where are my manners?  Please."


    Gesturing to an opening in the wall to the right of the group.  "Let''s go in and join the others.  I believe that with your arrival everyone currently involved is now here, though I expect that the final two will make their appearance within the next year or so."


    A puzzled look made the round of everyone''s faces.  Clearly something more than what they''d expected was going on, and they all had questions.  But there would be no answers if they didn''t follow this O''Malley person who was just now passing through the opening that they assumed led to the main area of the store.  Mimi was still purring and was again holding their arm as if she were afraid that they might disappear.


    The rest followed, with Miranda and Sara in the lead, down a rather dark corridor which ended at...oh...my...yes.... The two of them stopped cold and the rest spilled around the edges, whereupon they also stopped.  It wasn''t that Miranda and Sara were being rude.  Rather it was because they were unable to wrap their minds around what they saw and move at the same time.


    They had to be inside the rather disheveled warehouse they''d first entered, and they''d only walked about seven or eight meters.  But....


    Directly in front of them was what you might call a sitting room in that there were dozens of comfortable looking chairs scattered around an area that was probably 15 meters across.  Past them, on all sides of the circular area holding the chairs, were row upon row of tall bookshelves.


    Paolo absently passed a handkerchief to Sara who was drooling at the sight.  (Though for the rest of her life she denied it vehemently.)


    There was an almost golden light suffusing the room, providing just the ideal amount for reading.  An even 20 desks sat around the periphery of the sitting area, each of a size that would allow a researcher room for eight to 10 volumes at once.


    Almost as one, everyone''s eyes drifted upward towards what had to be the source of the light.  What they beheld was a domed skylight 12 meters across, 15 meters high, and with its base about five meters above them.  It was supported by a spiderwork of what appeared to be wrought iron.  What they noticed next was Yoko bouncing and flipping and spinning from beam to beam, all the while with a grin on her face that seemed to become wider with each bounce.


    YOKO?!  What in the world?


    "It''s time to come down little one.  We have things to discuss."


    O''Malley had spoken in what seemed a soft voice, but it must have carried, for Yoko instantly, though with obvious reluctance, stopped her acrobatics and bounced her way down to the floor.  Upon reaching it she bowed and said, "I haven''t had so much fun in literally ages.  May I perhaps be allowed to...."


    O''Malley ruffled her hair.  "Of course you may."


    Seeing the look of anticipation in her eyes O''Malley hurriedly added, "But let''s not get distracted.  There will always be time for that later, and today we don''t have a great deal of time before it might be noticed that we''re all ''gone''.  That could create problems, yes?"


    Yoko nodded then made her way over to the settee holding Jason and Hibiki, plopped herself down, and turned her attention back to O''Malley, who turned to the new arrivals.


    "Please be seated.  I have a few things to explain, and, as I just said, we don''t have a great deal of time."


    The newcomers sorted themselves out, settling on various chairs and sofas, then turning to O''Malley with expressions ranging from attentive to suspicious.


    Without any further preamble, O''Malley began, "All of you here, to at least some degree, are aware of the activities of the one you call ''Lady Blue''.


    They smiled widely.  "A cute name that.  Much better than some she''s been known by.


    "At any rate, it will be most helpful if you understand something about her.  Regardless of how incredibly old she may seem to you, the truth is that, for her species, she''s not quite yet reached puberty.  As such she''s prone to mistakes.


    "Subaru here...."  Looking down lovingly at Mimi, who was still holding their arm and purring, though softly now, "has, among numerous other things, accepted the task of being the spokesperson for those monitoring Blue.  As such, as some of you saw yesterday, she has the authority to, um...how to put it..."


    Making a fist of their left hand and gently hitting the palm of the upturned right, they continued, "Yes, that will do, ''remonstrate'' with Blue when she is overreaching herself in one way or another.  There are others who are much more powerful than Subaru who are present on your world and are able to step in should an actual correction need to be made, but it is Subaru who must be the focus of any such activities for now.  It''s far too premature for Blue to discover the presence of the others.


    "Like any near adolescent..." they turned to look at Stavros and Conseula momentarily, then resumed speaking, "It is important to learn to make one''s own decisions and choices, preferably without knowing how much one''s parents and guardians worry about them.  Even more important is that they not know until they are adults how much of what they supposed they were doing in private was known by their elders."


    At that point everyone besides the aforementioned twins blushed brightly, even Robert and Hiroshi who usually had excellent control of their reactions, what with having extensive practice at being "staid" bankers and all.


    Akane had buried her face in her hands while Blair had just grabbed the side of the settee she was sitting on with Hiroshi and frozen in place.


    "So your questions, as I see them, can be distilled into just one: Why am I telling you this?


    "The answer is simple, though, like many simple things, it has possibly far-reaching ramifications.  You needed to understand why she acts so much like a child at times, even when you know how serious and even dangerous the situations you find yourselves in are.  In other words her perceptions of the world around her are incomplete."


    Seeing puzzled expressions they smiled gently in Jason''s direction.  "It''s like with you youngling.  For now you need guidance from your wives, and others now and then, in order not to make mistakes that you''d regret."


    Seeing comprehension on everyone''s face they added, "Unlike you however, she''s in her ''rebellious'' phase and resents ''interference'' from adults.  It''s one of those ''I can do it myself, I don''t need any help'' type situations."


    So quickly that nobody but Genie noticed, they flicked their eyes toward her and then back.


    The twinkle in O''Malley''s eyes vanished and they continued, "The project involving your city has ramifications that extend far beyond this world.  What they are and why this particular planet is so important I can''t tell any of you right now.  What is important is that you are aware that it IS important.


    "So, those of you who have a closer relationship with my not-quite-wayward student, and I mean you Miranda and you Sara, are encouraged to let her know when she does something irresponsible, just as both of you already have on occasion.


    "You''ve been afraid that she''ll get angry and will ''do something'' to you if you irritate her too much."


    They smiled.  "Rest assured that such a situation will not arise.  Yes she may become irritated, but there are certain constraints her people place on all their children once they are deemed mature enough to venture out from their homes by themselves.  Such remain in place until they have learned self-control -- to an exquisite degree."


    They leaned forward conspiratorially and whispered, "She''s progressing much faster than most.  However I don''t want her to get a ''swelled head'', so don''t tell her I said so.  OK?"


    Next they turned to Subaru and patted her on the head.  "It''s time for you to resume your role as Mimi, and for the rest of you to resume the activities that I interrupted.  And no, don''t worry that Blue will pluck your thoughts about this meeting out of your minds.  One of her constraints is that she won''t be able to hear anything you say, or tease out anything you think about me, about what I''ve just said,  or even that this meeting took place.


    "Feel free to discuss what you''ve heard today, but if you please, only when you visit my store.  That way I can enjoy your company and make a bit of extra profit."


    They looked at the group pleadingly. "You will buy some books now and then, won''t you?"


    Everyone chuckled or laughed raucously out loud, depending on their character.


    "That should be everything for now."


    Turning to Miranda they added, "Oh, and your idea will work splendidly.  Thresh out the details with ''Mimi'' later.


    "That''s it for now."

 Vol 3 - Ch 8

    Stavros, Conseula, Miranda, Mimi, Sara, Paolo, Genie, and Mario found themselves back at the entrance of the bookstore.


    O''Malley was saying, "Go on in.  Let me know if you find anything you want, or if you have questions."


    Having so said, they leaned back in their chair, propped their feet up on the desk, and resumed reading.


    The group silently filed into what was now just an ordinary looking bookstore.  There really wasn''t anything to say, and each of them wanted to archive what they''d just seen and heard in their memories.


    ------------------


    The Fukui Residence - at the same time.


    "YOKO!  That was the most tasteless, unladylike, ostentatious, outrageous behavior!  Bouncing  around in the rafters while your elders were kept waiting....  Whatever were you thinking?


    "No, do not answer, there is no need.  You were not thinking at all, except about how much fun you were having."


    As she was ranting, Biki was waving her arms around like a windmill.  It took all he had for Jason to neither laugh, nor allow his inner laughter to seep across their emotional link.  He''d learned enough about how Hibiki''s thinking went to realize that the real reason for her rant was that she needed to dissipate her fear.  While they were watching Yoko, he''d felt Biki''s near painc each time Yoko made another, seemingly impossible leap.


    For the nonce he decided that saying nothing at all would both be best and safest, if he valued his hide.  Fortunately for all of them, it looked like Biki was about finished.


    She continued berating her sister, but at the same time a smile that she''d been holding back the entire time gradually became wider and wider until she was unable to restrain herself any longer.  She flew across the room and enveloped Yoko in a gigantic hug.


    "Damn it!  You scared me to death while you were up there.  I shall not say anything further about this. You can consider the matter closed."


    She stepped back, put her fists on her hips and scowled at her sib.  "Now that I have the scolding out of the way, I have only one thing left to say and that is this:  You were MAGNIFICENT!"


    Yoko had endured many such lectures over the years, but never before had one ended with a compliment.  Even with her quick wit, she was struck dumb.


    Seeing her astonished expression, both Hibiki and Jason began laughing.  For just a moment Yoko contrived to look offended, but moments later she joined them.


    Yoko had been prepared to endure however much verbal abuse would be required.  The freedom she''d felt when she was flitting about in the dome was TOTALLY worth it!


    Hibiki couldn''t help but add, "Well, at least you DID come down right away when she called you."


    Yoko turned to Biki with a puzzled expression.  "She?  She who?"


    "What do you mean ''she who''?  I mean the owner of the store, Ms. O''Malley."


    Jason interjected, "Ah Biki dear.  O''Malley is definitely a man.  I don''t see how you could make such an obvious mistake."


    Hibiki rounded on him, with a furious expression.  "Mistake!  Me, make a mistake about someone''s gender?  Who else but a woman has gorgeous, wavy, long hair like that?  Not to mention such shapely breasts, and wide hips.  So do not give me that crap."


    Enlightenment hit suddenly.  "What are you and Yoko up to?"


    She turned to her sib.  "This is typical of your crude sense of humor. Explain it to me, NOW!"


    Yoko and Jason had a brief, private conversation and decided that showing Hibiki would be best.  Having now mastered the skill of image projection, she and Jason let Hibiki see what they''d seen.


    Immediately afterwards, they rushed forward and grabbed Biki''s arms.  Then they lowered her into a chair whereupon she put her head between her knees so as not to faint.


    Once she had regained her composure she likewise projected what she''d seen to the others. The only thing their images had in common was the color of O''Malley''s hair, and a somewhat otherworldly expression on their face.  Yoko and Jason had definitely seen a male with a closely cropped beard.  Even O''Malley''s height was not the same in their memories.


    Neither Yoko nor Jason came close to fainting but their shock was evident.


    Jason spoke for all of them, "Based on what we saw, and what we heard, the circumstantial evidence supports only one possible conclusion.  We''re dealing with someone with abilities that are likely well beyond those of even Lady Blue.  I feel like I have, maybe, about a 0.0001% understanding of Blue and her abilities.  That being the case, I hope you''ll forgive me if I''d rather not even try to think about who or what this O''Malley person truly is."


    The girls nodded.  As there was nothing left to say that could possible have any usefulness, they went back to getting ready for a styling session they had scheduled that evening.  They''d think about what happened later, probably much later, or perhaps even after that.


    ----------------------


    Brewster''s Books  Two hours later.


    Those still at the store trickled out of the stacks over a period of several minutes.  The twins were first, with Stavros carrying two books and Consuela one.  Seeing O''Malley''s questioning look they responded, "We''re almost out of money and we haven''t finished reading the last books we bought, so this is it.


    Then ''Suela added with a smile, "For today that is.  We''ll be back, probably as often as we can afford to come, once we''ve finished the books we already bought."


    Next to come were Sara and Paolo.  She had six volumes in her arms and Paolo had four.


    O''Malley looked at them affectionately.  "Well Sara, I see that some researchers at the Little Cathedral are going to be very happy tomorrow morning.


    Turning to Paolo he continued, "And the book you''re writing on the common source of the primary concepts of all the major religions should get a boost as well.  However...."


    Here they turned and rummaged behind the counter.


    After a minute of assorted "hmmm"s and "um"s, they surfaced.  "Oh darn, that''s not going to work.  Guess I''ll have to...."


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    So saying, O''Malley knelt behind the counter and appeared to dive into the space between the top and the first shelf.  Only their legs below the knee were sticking out.  Several minutes later O''Malley surfaced, covered with dust.  They were holding a rather large tome which they set on the counter and  pushed in Paolo''s direction.


    "This is the only accurate biography of Zarathustra, the founder of what you here in the west call Zoroasterianism.  It also contains several essays he wrote explaining why and how he was called as a prophet, as well as the goals thereof."


    He chuckled at Paolo''s stunned expression.  "Yes, yes.  I know.  You thought that such a volume didn''t exist."


    Gesturing at the book between them, "You can see that it does."


    O''Malley''s expression became dubious.  "Of course, if you don''t want it or don''t need it, I can put it back."


    Paolo lurched forward and threw his body on top of the book.  "Yes, I DO want it and I DO need it, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!  This is the one thing I was truly lacking."


    He straightened, with the book wrapped securely in his arms, and bowed deeply.  "Thank you so much!"


    Hearing a deep chuckle, he straightened in time to see O''Malley grin and say, "You haven''t asked the price yet.  You need to look disinterested, at least a little, when you start a negotiation.  Otherwise a rapacious bookseller, might jack up the price two or three hundred percent.  Not that there''s one in the room or anything like that."


    Having said that they tilted their head back and softly whistled in the direction of the ceiling.


    Moments later O''Malley looked back at Paolo, seriously this time.  "There''s one thing you need to know youngling.  Not all people are as open-minded as you are.  When you publish this work, and I expect you''ll be ready in about three years, some folks will ''go up in flames''."


    O''Malley sighed sadly.  "There are far too many rigid beings in the worlds."


    Shrugging their shoulders they added, "That being the case, you''d best use a pen-name and have it printed somewhere far away from here so you can''t be tied to it.  Besides, knowing you, you''re more interested in the information being available than having your name publicized.  Right?"


    Paolo nodded.  "True.  On both counts.  I''d not thought about how it would be received. Thus far I''ve been primarily concerned with getting enough solid references, though it looks like that, with these five volumes, the problem has just been solved.  You''ve provided me with the one thing I was lacking.  For that, I''ll be eternally grateful."


    "Eternally you say?  That''s a very long time.  Even I can''t see the end of that particular idea...."


    O''Malley stretched and grinned widely.  "But that''s at least half the fun, isn''t it?  At any rate, I get your meaning.  I''m just glad to have been able to help.


    "Oh, I do have one other suggestion for you.  You''re good with ideas, but your writing is more than a bit on the stodgy side.  I strongly suggest that you get yourself a good editor to help you polish the work when you''ve finished.  That way it will be interesting as well as accurate.  It won''t do much good if people fall asleep when they''re reading it, right?"


    Sara stifled a laugh, turning it into an un-ladylike snort, after which Paolo glared at her.  Then he shrugged his shoulders.  He knew he wasn''t all that good at writing.


    Turning to O''Malley he asked, "Ah, what''s an editor?"


    O''Malley facepalmed.  "Oh, right, wrong era.  Let me see.  I''ll put it this way.  An ''editor'' is someone who goes over your work after you''re finished and shows you where you might be unclear in what you''re saying, ways that you might organize things better, and generally helps you polish what you''ve written to make sure that it''s interesting as well as correct.


    "In your particular case, since you''ve been bright enough to pick up on the Table of Contents idea, your editor can also help you make sure that what''s in each chapter is consistent.  No mixing what you''re writing on Judaism evolving away from the idea of Sheol with Daoist concepts of the afterlife in the same section."


    They cocked their head slightly to the side, looked at the ceiling, then mumbled to themself so softly that nobody could hear them, "No word processors on this planet so....yes, that would work."


    Then in a normal voice, "Try this.  Every time a new idea hits you when you''re writing about something else, take a new sheet of paper.  Put a heading on it saying what it''s about then go ahead and write whatever it is you just thought of.  Then when you''re ready to put it all together, sort everything into piles about the same thing.  That way you won''t have to cut up pages where you''ve suddenly started writing about something new.  You can keep the sets of pages in the slots on that desk of yours that Johann made.  How''s that sound?"


    Paolo nodded.  Yes.  That should work well.  There were almost 20 slots on the desk that could each handle a chapter or so.  If he wrote more than would fit in a slot, maybe it would be a sign that he was being too verbose. "That''s a great idea, and...  Huh?  Someone named Johann made my desk?"


    O''Malley was surprised.  "What?  You never went back to Flora''s to find out who made it?  That was a bit sloppy of you boy.  But I''ll save you some time since you asked.  It was made by your ancestor, Johann Kastner.  I''ll leave it to you to research the history of the desk and his design work."


    They grinned evilly.  "Unless of course you want to drop a hint to Yoko about who made it.  She just might insist on researching it herself."


    O''Malley shrugged again.  "She''s going to be needing a topic for her next paper anyway."


    Leaning forward they whispered, "Just between you and me, she''s going to find out that there are still at least 40 pieces he made scattered around The City.  I don''t suggest you tell her that or that there are a number of others elsewhere in Italy.  In the first case, it''ll spoil all her fun while she''s hunting them.  In the latter, it''ll just drive her crazy since she can''t leave The City to look for them, and Akane is needed here too much for her to go galavanting who knows where trying to find them."


    Sara and Paolo looked at each other and nodded.  That''s exactly what they''d try to do if they found out.


    O''Malley turned to the twins.  "You heard nothing at all about the furniture. Capice?  I''m sure that two such inventive mischief-makers as you are can see the potential problems if we tell them about it."


    The twins looked at each other, turned to Paolo and Sara and nodded.  Suddenly looks of astonishment and anticipation appeared on their faces.  You don''t suppose....


    They turned back to each other and touched palms briefly.  Then they turned toward Paolo.


    "Go ahead Stav."  "No you ''Suela."  "No Stav, you''re eldest, so this one''s yours."  "Oh, all right, but you owe me one."


    Both Sara and Paolo were surprised by the sudden appearance of embarassement and hope on the twins'' faces.


    "Ah, well, Paolo, it''s kinda like this.  We, ah, we aren''t interested in being priests or anything like that, but, uh, well, we''re, ah, really, really interested in how things got to be the way they are, and uh, well, we''ll be 14 when you finish writing your book, so would you, uh...well...consider letting us be your editors when you''re ready?"


    Paolo and Sara turned to each other and spoke privately, using what they''d originally thought of as just communicating with their faces, but had finally realized was something very like "twin," though they had to be looking at each other and within a meter of each other for it to work.


    What Conseula and Stavros saw was Paolo and Sara face each other and stand without moving for almost a minute, after which they nodded and Paolo turned to the twins.


    "I''d be pleased to let you be my ''editors''.  Such a strange word, but it sounds right.  Both of you are definitely the creative types, and those stories you made up when  you were trying to get out of trouble were interesting.  Amateurish but still interesting.  I expect that if you work on polishing your writing skills while I''m putting the book together, we can produce something that, at the very least, won''t be ''snooze-worthy''."


    The twins squealed and jumped up and down.  Just then Miranda appeared, with her arms full of books.  She peered around the side of the stack and asked, "Just what kind of mischief are you two up to this time?"


    O''Malley interrupted, "No mischief at all. At least not this time.  They''ve been quite well behaved."


    Miranda nodded.  "Good.  They already get into enough trouble."  She set the pile of books she was carrying down on the counter then turned around.


    O''Malley asked, "Where are you going?"


    Miranda stopped and turned her head to look over her shoulder. "Back for the rest.  There were too many for me to carry all at once."


    They frowned at Miranda.  "Though your twins were well behaved, both times they were here I might add, I see that we need to have words about your behavior.  To say that I''m disappointed in you is quite the understatement."


    Before anyone had time to react, everyone other than Miranda was standing outside, with Mimi in front of the door.


    She pointed her chin toward the door of the shop and said, "Those two will be busy for at least the next half hour.  Since it''s getting late, we''d best be on our way home."

 Vol 3 - Ch 9 Dangerous Situations

    The twins were already moving by the time Mimi had finished speaking.  They''d had long experience with the consequences if she weren''t obeyed.  Had they been able to see behind them they would have seen the amusement on Sara and Paolo''s faces as they watched Mario begin a futile argument about waiting until Miranda was finished.


    After about 20 seconds, Genie solved that problem by taking Mario by the hand and dragging him down the street toward home.  Sara and Paolo were right in front of them, with Mimi bringing up the rear.


    One thing that everyone seemed to have forgotten was that it was now after 9 p.m., and they weren''t exactly in what one could call the safest part of town.  The twins were chatting, not paying much attention to their surroundings, so they never noticed when four of the shadows on nearby buildings detached themselves from the walls.  Two stepped in front of them, blocking their way, while the other two grabbed them from behind.


    Given how quickly the twins had been moving, the others were by then just barely close enough to see what had happened.  Genie and Mario made as if to rush forward, but they were restrained, both by Paolo throwing an arm out in front of them, and by Mimi grabbing both of them by the collar and pulling backwards.  Sara on the other hand continued walking.  She didn''t hurry, nor did her pace slow.


    Genie''s and Mario''s voices were muffled by Mimi''s hands suddenly covering their mouths.  Their protests that they needed to do something were thus not heard by anyone other than Paolo.


    As Sara closed the distance, she noticed that the attackers were three men and a woman, all of about 25 to 30 years of age.  When she came to within 20 meters she raised her voice and said in a conversational tone, "I suggest that you let them go and disappear.  Right now would be the smart choice."


    One of the four assailants turned and licked his lips.  "Well lookie here.  The little lady wants us to let these two go.  Maybe we should.  She''s quite the looker.  We can sell her for a lot more than the kids."


    The woman looked Sara up and down, then laughed softly. "I don''t believe it.  I know her.  She''s one of the librarians at the Little Cathedral.  I saw her the other day when I was checking out some shops across the street.."


    She turned more fully toward Sara, who was still approaching, and raised a knife.  "So Miss Librarian, what are you going to do if we refuse your kind offer?"


    Sara shrugged her shoulders.  "Stop you of course.  By whatever means necessary."


    The thug holding Conseula, who was beginning to struggle, pulled out his own knife and put it to her throat.  "Ya''d better stop talking nonsense, otherwise this one is dead.  I haven''t killed anyone for almost two weeks, and I''m feeling sorta deprived, ya know?  So if you don''t want this one to be next, you walk, slow-like, until you''re two meters away.  Then you stop.  Capice?"


    As instructed, Sara moved slowly to within two meters.  Then she stopped.


    The thug lowered his knife and rasped, "Good girl."


    He turned to the others, "Looks like she won''t need much taming neither.  We should get a good pri...."


    Moments later Sara took the twins by the hands and tugged gently.  "Let''s be on our way.  We need baths.  Those things don''t smell all that good."


    So saying, she put an arm around the shoulders of each of them and gently restrained their heads when they tried to look at what was behind them.


    Mimi and Paolo had let go of the others at that point.  Genie and Mario rushed forward and bent over the bodies of the would-be slave traders.


    When Paolo reached the others he looked down and sighed.  It''s frustrating when you know that your wife can deal with some situations better than you can, even when she''s four months along in her pregnancy.  But, that''s what a true partnership is.  One covers for the things the other lacks.


    "Well, that''s irritating.  I''m not going to be able to go home till I make a report."


    Turning to Mimi he asked, "Will you please ask either Captain Murray or Sergeant Rivers to come, or whomever is on call at this time of night?  Also please have them bring enough help to carry these things?  I''m sure they won''t want to leave them here."


    Mimi nodded firmy.  "Indeed.  Their stench will ruin what little ambiance this neighborhood has."  So saying she blinked out, leaving Paolo to explain the situation to the astonished faces that were turning toward him.


    "If your minds were working, especially yours Mario, as you''ve fought bandits on several occasions, you''d remember how Master Hiroshi feels about being able to protect yourself.  And you should also recall that Sara is Master Hiroshi''s first-born child.  He began teaching her the art when she was two.  He tells me that by the time she was 19 there was nothing left that he knew to teach her. Since then they''ve gotten together once a week to, what''s the word, oh yes, ''spar'' for an hour or two. They say it''s so they can ''keep in practice'', but I know better.  I''ve never seen two people involved in something they love as much as those two do.


    He nodded at the dawning comprehension in Genie and Mario''s eyes.


    "Both of you know him.   Ever since Sara became pregnant, he''s been inventing ''Special Techniques'' to use when she gets far enough along that her movements will be restricted.


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    He let out a frustrated sigh.  "I quit watching after the third time.  When I think of how poorly I perform even the simple katas so far, it gives me an immense inferiority complex."  He shrugged his right shoulder.  "Well, I only started two months ago.  Maybe with a few more years of practice I won''t feel quite so bad.


    "You two head on home.  I''d suggest you walk rather briskly.  If the twins have hysterics in the bath, Sara will need some help calming them, so you''re elected Genie.  They don''t know Mario well enough yet for him to be able to assist."


    They nodded, somewhat dumbly, then took each other''s hands and hurried on their way.  Paolo nodded in approval.  Even though Mario was depending on Genie so as to keep his balance at that speed, his gait was already improving,


    Once Sergeant Rivers and a squad of the Guard arrived, Paolo explained why Sara had decided that killing the attackers was the only way to save the children, especially given the one''s comment about killing Consuela if Sara resisted being kidnapped along with them.


    The Sergeant just nodded when Paolo finished.  She didn''t know all four by sight, but the one she did know had a price on his head.  He''d been wanted for murder in both Catania and Bari.


    After her squad had carried off the bodies she told Paolo, "Sara will need to come make a statement tomorrow morning, and you''d probably better bring Mimi too.  It''s likely that the others didn''t see or hear enough to be of help."


    She nodded to herself, then, before turning to leave, said, "Be well youngling.  I hope that the next time we meet it will be in more congenial circumstances."


    "As do I Sergeant.  As do I.  Peace be with you."  Paolo chuckled mirthlessly. "Though, given your occupation, I''m afraid that Peace doesn''t find you all that often."


    "Truly, but the thought is appreciated.  Till tomorrow."


    So saying, she turned and strode off briskly.  Her shift had only just begun an hour before.  There was likely to be a lot more on her plate before she was relieved in the morning.


    ---------------------------


    At Brewster''s Books


    "What do you mean you''re disappointed in me.  Who are you to judge me, especially given that we''ve just met, you miserable excuse for...."


    O''Malley put a finger to their lips, and instantly Miranda''s tirade ceased.  Try as she might, she couldn''t open her mouth.  "Much better.  The student should listen when the Master speaks, not spout meaningless drivel."


    The pointed to the chair behind Miranda. "Sit, be still, and listen."


    She did, though her glare had lost none of its intensity.


    "Somewhat better.  You may now speak, though only when I ask you a question."


    Miranda''s mouth flew open as she prepared to retort, only to slam shut again when incredible pain engulfed her face as every muscle in it went into an extreme spasm.


    O''Malley spoke calmly, "You''re not listening very well either.  I said you could speak when I asked questions. I don''t recall giving you permission to say anything otherwise."


    They waved a hand and the spasms stopped.  O''Malley waited until Miranda was recovered enough from the pain to sit upright and attend.


    "First question.  What were you going to do with the books?  Oh, I suppose I should let you know that an impertinent reply will be punished.  We have no more time for your theatrics."


    Miranda worked her mouth several times to see if she were able to speak properly.  She schooled herself into as neutral an expression as possible.


    O''Malley commented, "Adequate.  You''ll do better when you''re more mature.  Now, answer the question."


    Miranda flinched as her own words to her children were thrown in her face.  "I was planning on buying the books."


    O''Malley nodded.  "All right.  Then what were you going to do with them?  You can skip the part about trying to bore me with minutia as a way of ''getting back at me'' by telling me that you''d be taking them home, putting them on shelves and such."


    Working out a mild cramp in her jaw, Miranda answered, "I was planning on reading them."


    O''Malley waggled both eyebrows.  "Oh, really.  And when were you planning to do so?  No wait, don''t answer that.  Tell me, approximately how many books do you have at home that you haven''t read yet, and how many do you read in a month?"


    Miranda answered defensively, "About 300 I guess.  And I read about one or two a month.  But I''m really very busy! I don''t have time to do more than that."


    Nodding as one does when one''s suspicions are confirmed, O''Malley said, "I see.  Which means that you''ll be caught up with what you already have in, what, about 12 or 13 years?  Is that right?"


    Motoring right along they added, "Now tell me.  Have you read the Inferno by Dante?  There are a number of copies in the various libraries in town now."


    Miranda nodded cautiously.  She had no idea where this was going.  She was extremely irritated with this "person," but she was also terrified by what they''d just done to her.


    O''Malley smiled.  "Very good.  Now answer me this.  What punishment was given to horders?"


    O''Malley peered intently at Miranda, watching her mind working through why the question had been asked and what the implications were.  She was a very intelligent being, just somewhat dense when it came to certain ideas.  When the light dawned on her face, they continued.


    "Given what you told me about how slowly you read books, and the total number you already have waiting to be read, these books you just brought out would sit on your shelves, unread, for up to another 14 or 15 years.


    "Almost a third of these are the only copies in the entire city.  Of those, further copies of half of them will not make their way here for another five to 20  years.  Which means that those who would benefit from reading them, or who could use those particular books to complete their research projects, will have to wait at least until then.  That assumes that you wouldn''t just let them sit on your shelves after you got them home.  I suppose that, when you finally get around to dying, your family will donate them to one of the libraries.  Too bad that those who need them now may well have died themselves before that happens."


    Miranda slumped forward in the chair, with her face in her hands, sobbing.


    O''Malley smiled.  They were well familiar with the phrase, "a diamond in the rough."  It was true that there was a diamond in there somewhere, but this one was still much more "rough" than precious stone.


    "What we''re going to do is this.  Today you make take home ONE book.  You may come back for ONE more after you have read, and understood, two of those you have at home in addition to the one you take home tonight.  You will also first need to have donated any three books of your choice to one of the libraries."


    They snorted.  "You have so many bookshelves in your office right now that it looks like a pigsty.  I suspect that you may find some interesting things buried here and there when you finally pare the clutter down.


    "Well. enough of that.  I''m tired.  It''s past time for my supper, and then some."


    They reached into the middle of the pile on the counter and pulled out a book.  "Here''s the one you need to read first.  I''ll see you when it''s time for the next one.  Untill then, a good night to you."


    Miranda found herself outside the store facing a door with a "Closed" sign on it.  She wiped the tears from her cheeks, lifted the book she was holding to her chest, and wrapped her arms around it.  Then she turned and trudged up the hill toward home.

 Vol 3 - Ch 10 Books! Whyd it have to be books?

    Miranda was so wrapped up in her thoughts when she arrived home that she never noticed that she encountered not a single living soul as she took her bath and prepared for bed.  It was only after she was in bed, and Robert turned to her and gently pulled her against his chest that she realized what had happened.  Mimi had somehow known and had kept everyone away from her so as not to trigger the tears that now flowed down her cheeks.


    Robert said not a single word.  Rather he continued to hold her and gently stroked her head over and over with his right hand.  Mimi hadn''t told him anything other than that Miranda had had a "life-changing" shock, that she''d be the better for it, but that she was going to need comforting that only he could provide.


    People tend to think that bankers are so focused on money that they don''t attend to much of anything else.  While that may apply to some, Robert was a product of his culture and his city.  Such a crossroads of trade could be a dangerous place, even in broad daylight.  No matter where in The City he was, he usually noticed everything that was going on around him.  He''d been watching, and deriving great entertainment from, Miranda and Mimi dancing around each other the past few years.  While he had no idea as to the details, he had deduced that they were playing some sort of convoluted game.


    He had no intention of mentioning his conclusions to either of them.  Knowing that they were being watched might take all the fun out of it for them.  Therefore he was content to pick up the rare puzzle pieces that presented themselves and, in his own way, attempt to put them together.


    Mimi had presented him with another tonight, which had confirmed what he''d long suspected.  Whoever or whatever she was, she was at heart a gentle being who cared for others a great deal.


    ---------------------


    Tuesday September 06, in The Year 724 AF


    In the morning, Robert behaved exactly as he always did, which gave Miranda time to assess her feelings, and, more importantly, allowed her to turn her back while she carefully removed the dried tears from her face.  Once she felt semi-presentable, she arose and, uncharacteristically, strode over to Robert and held him for a while.  After that she kissed the top of his head then went about completing her morning preparations.


    Somewhere during the night, as she had semi-awakened and then gone back to sleep over and over, her mind had figured out what she needed to do.  Not only would it satisfy the strictures O''Malley had placed on her, but it would also serve as step one in her budding plan to further improve the safety of The City.


    First though one of the things that was bothering her was paramount, and she knew that if that itch wasn''t scratched, it would irritate her all day.  Thus, as breakfast was almost done, and Mimi was finishing clearing away the plates, Miranda stopped her.  "Ah, Mimi. Seeing as your father is Irish, and your mother lived there for several years before they married, perhaps you can help me with a question."


    Mimi sketched a slight bow.  "Of course Madame, if it is in my power."


    "Thank you Mimi.  It''s really rather simple.  It''s about Irish names.  Do you happen to know if Mckale is a boy''s name or a girl''s?"


    The others at table had not really been paying attention as she began to speak, but the moment she''d finished, the heads of almost everyone snapped up and swiveled toward Mimi, like radar locking onto a target.  Robert, who had no idea what was going on, found himself turning to Mimi as well, simply because everyone else was.  Perhaps another puzzle piece was in the offing.


    Mimi smiled, then responded, "Yes Madame I do."


    Everyone leaned forward, as if to hear her answer more clearly.  She smirked and replied, "It is what you would call here a ''unisex'' name. It can be used for either a boy or a girl."


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    Upon so saying, she finished gathering up the remaining tableware and flowed out the door to the kitchen, leaving everyone other than Robert severely frustrated.  He, on the other hand, was delighted.


    Every one of the others had a nearly overwhelming urge to know "everything" that was of interest to them.  That of itself was most definitely not a bad thing.  Anything but!  However, sometimes when you want to know everything, you can fool yourself into thinking that you already do.  Seeing all of them reminded that such was impossible, by whatever it was that Mimi had just told, or not told them, had likely punctured a few overly inflated egos.


    Standing after pushing his chair back with a bit more vigor than was needed, he couldn''t help but rub it in.  "Well, that seems to have been educational.  Perhaps later you can inform me as to what it was all about.  However, as I need to get to the bank, explanations will have to wait.  I''ll see you all this evening."  So saying he turned briskly and strode from the room, giving none of the others time to respond.


    Mimi, who had stopped as soon as the door had swung shut behind her, removed her ear from the wood and smiled evilly.  Playing with this family was SOOO much fun!


    ---------------------


    An hour later Miranda was standing in the middle of her office wondering what to do.  She was surprised, no, not that, she was shocked to see how many books she had crammed into the room.  They weren''t just on the shelves but also occupied ever nook and cranny where there was room to place them.


    "Oh Gods!  Where in the world should I begin?"


    There was a chuckle behind her.  She spun around and beheld Patricia Garibaldi.  "That''s why I''m here, isn''t it?  I see that Mimi wasn''t exaggerating, at least not much, when she dropped by this morning and said that you needed help sorting things out before...let''s see...how did she put it?  Oh yes, ''Before an avalanche of books falls on her and buries her forever.''"


    Patricia surveyed the room.  "I thought she was kidding...."


    She put her hands on her hips and looked around, more carefully this time.  Miranda noticed that, as she did so, her fingers were twitching.


    Patricia spread her hands and shrugged.  "I see that I''m definitely going to earn what you''ll be paying me today.  Good thing that I''m usually closed on Tuesdays and was available, though I seriously doubt that we''ll be able to get much more than half of these sorted out in a single day -- maybe not even that many.


    "At any rate, Mimi told me that you need to divide these into groups.  So there''ll be at least, hmmm, four?


    "1)  Keep no matter what.


    "2) Keep if there''s room or someone else in the family may need them.


    (We probably won''t want to let them look them over till we''re done, or they''ll slow us down.)


    "3) Donate to one of the libraries that could use them.


    "4) Sell, which will be either:


    A) Rare and/or valuable but the libraries already have copies.


    B) Not rare here but probably in demand in other cities."


    Patricia had been doing a quick, visual survey as she spoke.  Turning to Miranda she finished with, "Does that pretty much cover it?"


    Miranda nodded woodenly. Drat!  Mimi had done it to her again.  She...OH MY GOD!  Miranda turned, as if to check something on her desk as her cheeks flamed.  If Mimi knew what O''Malley had said to her, she''d never be able to face her again.


    Mimi swirled into the room carrying a large pot of tea, two cups, and a substantial amount of snacks that wouldn''t leave crumbs or stick to one''s fingers, along with a number of napkins for "just in case."


    As she set it down on Miranda''s desk she murmured, "I was told that you would be needing Mrs. Garibaldi''s help today.  I was not told why."


    Patricia nodded to herself as Mimi left the room.  "Let''s start by clearing that small bookshelf to the left of your desk.  Then we can move it out of the office, and slide that table in the corner over, which will give us some space to start sorting.


    "Ah, if it''s OK, since it''s wide enough, I''d suggest we put each shelf we empty on the balcony, to either side of your doors, and use them to temporarily store the things we sort.  That''ll keep the room from getting more cluttered than it already is.  There should be plenty of room for others to walk by them."


    She looked at Miranda a bit nervously.  She was one of the most important women in The City, and Patricia was afraid that she might have overstepped herself.


    Miranda thought a bit and then nodded.  Yes, that would do.  Since the balcony wrapping around the atrium was a multi-function area, using it temporarily to store books would be acceptable.


    She turned to Patricia and smiled.  "That will be fine.  An excellent suggestion.  Let''s do it that way.  Sven and Mario will easily be able to move the shelves as we empty them."


    Smiling with relief, Patricia walked over to the first shelf.  It was going to be a long day, but, if what she''d already seen was any indication, it was going to be both extremely interesting and fun.

 Vol 3 - Ch 11 Sorting and Death Threats?!

    Within hours the shelves on the balcony were rapidly filling up with books.  Somehow, without being seen by anyone, signs had appeared above each shelf.


    They read:


    Library Donations


    For Family IF you really need them. (Don''t touch till the sorting is finished.)


    For Sale in The City


    First Trip Sales


    Touch These And You Die!


    It was the last that convinced everyone that Mimi was responsible even though no one had seen her put them up.  Nobody else would use that particular wording.  What really drew everyone''s attention was the next to last.  None of them had a clue as to what it meant, though, as the day progressed, the number of books in that section grew to be twice as many as were in any other.


    There didn''t seem to be any particular pattern to the books on those shelves either.  They ranged from fairly common, inexpensive titles to some that, based on the quality of their bindings, must be of substantial value.


    A further surprise involved Sven.  When he and Mario weren''t moving newly emptied shelves onto the balcony, it was he who was doing the sorting.  Each time he entered Miranda''s office, Miranda and Patricia gave him directions as to which book in the next armload went where.  He would then pick them up, walk out to the balcony, and place each book on one of the waiting shelves.


    Mario noticed that Sven seemed to be completely ignoring his instructions.  He would walk out of the office and, without even looking at the titles, seemingly place books at random on the waiting shelves.  However, when Miranda and Patricia came out for a breather and a late lunch in mid-afternoon, they did nothing more than look briefly at the shelves, nod in satisfaction, and then head downstairs.


    --------------------------


    When Consuela and Stavros arrived home and, as usual, ran up the stairs, they stopped cold at the sight of the shelves full of books.  There were close to as many books there as there were in their school library.  As they were standing outside the office, looking greedily as the "For Family" shelf, which contained a number of books on their want list, they heard voices inside and peeked in.


    "Right then, that''s enough for today Mrs. Donetti.  I''m tired, my brain isn''t functioning at full speed any more, and I don''t want to make any mistakes in the sorting.  Like I said this morning, we''re going to need another full day to finish this, but that''s all.


    "That being so, I have a proposition for you.  I''ll keep the shop closed tomorrow and help you finish the job.  Also, you needn''t pay me, at least not with cash."


    She pointed at the corner of Miranda''s desk where she had placed several books.  "I''ll accept those seven books as payment in full for my time, for both days, and my lost sales from not being open tomorrow.  How say you?"


    As she waited for Miranda''s reply, she cocked her head to the side like an owl.


    Even though she was tired, Miranda''s thoughts proceeded as always.  Because of her spying work, she was accustomed to thinking accurately when nearly worn out.  Thus her decision was arrived at quickly.


    1) She had absolutely no idea what Mimi had told Patricia she''d be paying her.


    2) She didn''t recognize a single one of the seven books, nor did she have any idea of what language any of them were written in.


    3) She had a strong suspicion that O''Malley, he or she or whatever, had slipped the books into her library somehow, probably as a joke.  The other possibility was that they wanted to show her...something...in the way of a further lesson.  Given what Miranda had seen of their abilities, she suspected that it might just well be both.


    Miranda nodded.  "That seems more than fair Pat."


    Seeing Patricia''s reaction she smiled and added, "After today I just can''t see us ever being formal with each other again.  So please, allow me to call you Pat, and you call me Manda."


    Raising a hand as Patricia opened her mouth to object, Miranda added, "I will NOT accept ''no'' as an answer.  We''ve known each other for over a decade.  It''s long past the time we should have been on a first name basis.  Agreed?"


    Patricia smiled and nodded.  "Very well Manda.  I accept."


    It wasn''t until she was on her way home, the seven precious books in her arms, that she realized that Miranda''s, no...Manda''s, gift of her name was likely intended to have two purposes.  In the future, when customers heard Pat calling Miranda by her nickname, word was going to spread.  Her shop was likely to have more customers once it did, and some of those would have deeper pockets than most of the ones she now had.


    Consequently, when she reopened the shop on Thursday, her display window would have only one book in it, which would be one of those she was carrying.  At first she''d intended to send all of them off to Rome for sale, but things had just changed.  She''d put all seven on display, perhaps one every two to three weeks.


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    Just selling the first one would allow her to spruce up the shop and make it more inviting to those with more money than sense.  She snorted.  Any true bibliophile didn''t care where they found the books they were searching for.


    Then...no, wait a minute, that wouldn''t work at all.  Miranda had told her that one reason she was "clearing things out" was because she realized she''d been accidentally hoarding books that others might need.  If Pat sold the books only to the wealthiest collectors, nobody would ever be able to read them.  That wouldn''t do.  Books were meant to be read.


    She ambled on, mostly thinking.  Ah ha!  That would work.  She could set up that little room she wasn''t using in the back of the store as a private display area.  Then she''d talk to Bishop Lundgren.  Fortunately he was an occasional customer.  She could ask him about how to find buyers who could afford the books, but who also would be willing to share, at least with serious researchers.


    Having resolved the question to her satisfaction, she hummed her favorite song the rest of the way home.


    -------------------


    Sara and Paolo were a bit late getting home, though only by about 20 minutes.  Even so they hurried as they ascended the stairs.  Married or no, Miranda would never accept any excuse if they were late for dinner.  Both of them froze as the bookshelves lining the wall of the balcony came into view.  They turned and looked at each other and found the other just as puzzled as they were.


    What in the world?


    The first shelf they encountered was the one labeled, "Touch These And You Die!," which elicited chuckles from both.  Mimi had clearly been involved in whatever it was.  When they were about two meters away from the last shelf, Sara was able to read the sign reading, "Library Donations".  For a moment she froze, then she shuffled forward as if in a trance, completely ignoring the other two shelves she passed.


    Carefully, she knelt down and began to scan the titles.  Seconds later the sound of her crying drew the entire family out of their rooms.  Miranda managed to arrive first.  She sank down next to Sara, wrapped her arms around her and, speaking softly and gently asked, "Whatever is the matter child?"


    Sara''s body was shaking with her sobbing, and tears were streaming down her face.  Nevertheless she managed to lift her arm and point at the books.  "It..it...it''s so WONDERFUL!  I...I''ve been looking for some of these for almost four years, and they''ve been here all this time.  What an amazing, precious gift!"


    As Sara spoke, Miranda had a fleeting image of O''Malley''s face in her mind.  Unlike Lady Blue they didn''t say anything.  Their expression was at once stern, and, somehow full of compassion.  The face nodded at her, then it vanished.


    Miranda had thought she''d dealt with her guilt already, but she found herself squeezing Sara even harder as she too began to cry.


    The rest of the family were hurrying forward, but they were met by a Paolo they''d never seen before.  His face was as adamantium as he raised both arms and pointed for everyone, even his father, to return back the way they had come.  He didn''t know what was going on, but he did know that whatever it was needed to be left to run its course without interruption.


    Not a one of them questioned his order.  They turned around and trooped back to their rooms.  Once there they rushed through their preparations for dinner.  It was likely that at least some kind of explanation would be made then, and they didn''t want to miss any of it.


    After their tears had stopped, Miranda pulled back and began to stroke Sara''s hair.  "I''m so sorry it took me so long to realize that I was such an idiot."


    Sara lifted her face with an expression of complete incomprehension.  "I don''t understand what you''re talking about. You...."


    Miranda put a finger on Sara''s lips.  "Never mind.  It doesn''t matter any more.  I hope that I won''t make the same mistake again."


    So saying, she placed what she''d learned in her "Never, EVER Forget" mental file.


    Then she looked back at Sara with a mischievous smile.  "Since you seem to be at least somewhat interested in what Pat and I found today, do you think that perhaps you might be able to free up some time tomorrow to assist us while we sort out the rest of the books.  I expect that there will be at least a few more that would be useful at the library."


    Sara stood up so quickly that Miranda almost fell backwards.


    Turning to Paolo, Sara said sternly, "As soon as we''re finished with dinner, you will take a message to Archbishop Comfort''s residence.  You will tell her that I will be occupied all day tomorrow helping a generous benefactor who has chosen to donate a substantial number of important books to the libraries.


    "You will also not say a single word to her about me crying when I found out."


    She dropped her head for a moment, thinking quickly.  Then she lifted it and faced Paolo again, this time with a huge grin. "You MAY tell her that I squealed like a child does the first time they''re taken to Fukui''s and told to pick out anything they want.  It''s close enough to what happened to convey how I felt, but it won''t be nearly as embarrassing when she teases me about it."


    Paolo said nothing, but rather stepped forward and enfolded Sara in a comfortable hug.  He murmured in her ear, "By your command Librarian.  I shall do exactly as you say.  Besides, if I told her about you crying, I wouldn''t be able to tease you about it later myself.  This way I can twit you about it for years!"


    He jumped back as fast as he could before she could do anything.  Fortunately, he must have struck the proper tone, for she only glared at him, then smiled.  Had she been truly irritated, she might have accidently damaged him before she was able to control herself.


    She held out her hand, and, pretending that Miranda wasn''t there said, "Come along.  I''ve noticed that my mother-in-law tends to be somewhat upset if we''re late to dinner.  We''d best hurry."


    Taking her hand, and also ignoring Miranda''s presence, Paolo murmured, "Too true. I''ve noticed the same thing myself."


    Miranda stood still as a rock, momentarily stupefied.  Neither of they had ever had the temerity to tease her before.  Shaking herself, she smiled.  Finally!  Mealtimes were going to be much more fun with them able to participate in the banter at the table.


    Well, enough of that, it wouldn''t do if SHE were the one late for dinner.  She''d never hear the end of it, and...hmmm....  Maybe she should be, just a little.  It might be fun to hear what kind of barbs they''d use to needle her.


    With a big smile of her own, and a much lighter heart, she strolled down to her room to finish her preparations.

 Vol 3 - Ch 12 More Books and Cuddles!

    Wednesday September 07 in The Year 724 AF


    Things went swimmingly with the rest of the sorting.  Sara was ecstatic.  Miranda was surprised by the pleasure she felt from seeing Sara so happy, and in finding that she now had ample room to move around in her office again.  Her free space has been encroached upon so slowly that she hadn''t noticed how cramped things were getting.  Pat left that afternoon with an extraordinary feeling of accomplishment and with one additional, fabulous book Manda had given her as a "thank you."


    The only question left in the minds of the rest of the family was: What the heck did the First Trip sign mean, and why were there so many books below it?


    Consuela and Stavros knew that their mother would eventually tell everyone why the sign and the books were there, so puzzling at it was a waste of time.  They had, of course, discussed it for a few minutes the previous night, but there was another question that that was much more important to them and also more interesting.  It was that which had occupied most of their time before bed.


    So the next day, now mindful of the time, they hurried down to Brewster''s Books immediately after they''d finished most of their homework.  They didn''t know exactly what had happened after they''d been grabbed the night before, but, whatever it was, they didn''t want to go through it again just so they could find out.


    They trotted downhill and entered the shop, only to find O''Malley directly in front of them.  O''Malley dropped to a knee and gently hugged both of them.  After the initial shock of being hugged by someone who wasn''t family, and who was also nearly a stranger at that, they relaxed and found themselves enjoying the sensation.


    A while later O''Malley stood and looked down at them lovingly.  "I don''t know what we''d have done had you been injured.  Fortunately, your eldest sister is more formidible than perhaps even I had imagined."


    Gesturing the twins to a pair of small chairs off to the side of the entry, O''Malley sat across from them and asked, "Since you told me yesterday you have no more money to spend right now, there must be something else on your minds today."


    Seeing O''Malley''s attention on them, the twins were momentarily taken aback.  They''d been expecting to gradually work up to what they wanted to ask.  Immediately jumping to what they wanted to know temporarily flustered them, and they didn''t know where to start.


    "You children are getting to be too much like your mother.  She''s a bit too fond of plotting."


    They nodded encouragingly at the children.  "Sometimes the best way to proceed is to do just that, proceed."


    O"Malley waved a hand.  "Oh, yes, it IS sometime fun to weave a web of deception as a sort of game, but that''s only sometimes."


    Smiling they added, "This is not one of those times.  So, get on with it.  You still have a bit of homework to finish.  Oh, by the way, you both made the same mistake on the eighth math problem.  You''d best review and correct that when you get home."


    The twins stole a glance at each other. How had O''Malley known that?  Before they could follow that thought they heard the sound of someone clearing their throat.  Turning back to O''Malley they saw an expectant expression mixed with a bit of "get on with it," so they did.


    It was Stavros'' turn this time.  "Yes, well, it''s like this.  We don''t want to be insulting or anything, but all of us who were here yesterday have talked about it now, and, well, to tell the truth, we''re really confused.  So, ah...."


    Consuela was getting frustrated herself, so she barged ahead, "We can''t figure out if you''re a boy or a girl.  It''s like everyone sees you differently.  We can''t even be sure of how old you are.  So, uh, if you please, could you, would you explain, maybe?"


    At the end she cringed, ready to be scolded or perhaps even hit.  She''d seen others'' parents do that, and, even though hers had never struck her in anger, she wasn''t sure how O''Malley would react.


    "Well child, I suppose I could say that your fears are silly, but that would be beyond foolish.  Saying that someone''s ideas or expectations are silly just because you already know the answer to their question is what is truly silly.


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    "So, that being the case...."


    O''Malley stood, closed the distance between them, and began to stroke their heads.  "No, I''m not angry, nor even the tiniest bit upset.  If I hadn''t wanted you asking questions, I wouldn''t have had each of you see me differently.


    "You really shouldn''t be all that surprised.  You two also have more than one form."


    The twins nodded, feeling that O''Malley''s words were true somehow but they didn''t  comprehend them in full.


    O''Malley added, "Indeed.  As I''m a bit more, let''s say ''experienced'' with such things, I have more forms than you do.  I just let everyone see the part of me that made the most sense to them.  I guess you could say that what everyone saw was what they expected to see in a person who owned a bookstore of this kind."


    Bending forward, they continued in a soft, conspiratorial voice, "If you look carefully, not with your eyes, but with your feelings, I expect that you''ll find that a number of people you know have another form.  I''ll even give you a hint. Out of all those you know, less than a third do, but you know a lot of people.


    "Let me caution you though.  When you find someone with another form, don''t discuss it with them.  If you do, at best they''ll be confused, and at worst, angry.  So, instead of that, come back and tell me what you have deduced.  Consider it a game if you will.  As for a prize when you''re right, well, let me see....


    "How about books?  Does that suit?"


    The twins jumped up with gleeful expressions.  Nodding vigorously, they bowed, let themselves out, and then raced home.


    O''Malley smiled after them.  Things were going to become even more interesting now.  As serious as the project was, they couldn''t help but rub their hands together in anticipation.


    ---------------------------


    Unexpectedly, there were no revelations about the books at dinner that evening.  Miranda only said, "Sven, Mario, if you would please assist me in rearranging the bookshelves and putting the books back tomorrow, it would be a great help."


    Turning to Genie, she added, "I''d like for you and Mario to join Robert and I in the library after dinner tomorrow.  We have a proposal for you.


    "Paulito and Sara, you won''t be directly involved, at least not at first, so you may be excused if you wish.  However, should you want to join us, you will be most welcome."


    Sara and Paolo turned to each other, momentarily confused.  Miranda, asking them what they wanted to do instead of giving orders?  Something passing strange was going on.  The light went on for both of them at almost the same time.


    They smiled at each other then Sara began with, "Well, since you put it that way...."


    Paolo drawled, "I suppose we can find time in our overly busy schedule to spare you at least a few minutes."


    Then both of them flashed Miranda a mischievous grin.


    Smiling back she scratched her head, as if thinking.  "Then we''ll probably need another chair.  If Sara has to sit on your lap, or Genie on Mario''s, it might be a bit hard for everyone to concentrate on the discussion and not on what the two of you would be doing."


    There were chuckles all around with the exception of Robert and the twins.  The latter were confused, both by their mother''s unusual behavior, and by Sara and Paolo''s reply.  Robert, on the other hand was, at least a little, exasperated with his spouse.  She''d done it again.


    She had a tendency, no, to be truthful, it was more like an ongoing habit, of making plans for the both of them and then forgetting to discuss them with him.  She always apologized afterwards, sincerely as best he could tell, but it was, to say the least, irritating.


    She usually expressed her contrition by being unusually affectionate.


    Hmmm....  He wondered if that was part of what she''d planned.  Well, whether it was or not, he certainly enjoyed her "apologies," so perhaps he''d not mention his suspicions to her, at least not until tomorrow.


    -----------------


    By the time Genie left for school the next morning, Miranda already had Mario and Sven busy with the moving, which didn''t surprise Genie at all.  Once her mother decided on a plan of action, "action" is what always happened, usually immediately.  Fortunately she hadn''t insisted on beginning after dinner the night before.


    As she was closing the door, she looked upstairs one last time.  At the rate they were going, it looked like they''d probably be finished before lunch.  If that were the case, she had some plans of her own to take care of before she came home.


    When she arrived home that afternoon, as expected, all the books and shelves were gone from the balcony.  Not as expected was finding three of the largest shelves, packed with books, in the "office" area of her bedroom, and Mario just finishing shelving what was probably the final armload.


    After a quick hug and kiss, she asked him, "What the heck?"


    Mario shrugged his shoulders.  "No idea at all Love.  All I know is that your mother had an exceptionally smug look on her face while Sven and I maneuvered everything in here.  What I can definitely say is that she''s up to something, which I doubt is a surprise to you even less than it is to me."


    Genie nodded.  "Got that in one.


    "Oh well, at least we won''t have to wait long.  I''m sure we''ll find out within the next three hours.  Speaking of which, with this ''meeting'' coming up, I finished all my homework at school today.  And...I don''t have any papers due for at least a month."


    She looked behind herself to make sure that the door was locked.


    "That being the case...."


    Before Mario could ask her what she was up to, she leapt forward, knocking him down on the bed.

 Vol 3 - Ch 13 Plotting - As Usual

    Dinner that evening was unusually quiet.  Miranda and Richard were mentally reviewing their proposal, while the young adults'' minds were almost totally involved in running through various possibilities for the upcoming meeting.  Stavros and Consuela, rather than engaging in their usual boisterous behavior, spent most of their time discussing privately what might have caused all the others to act so strangely.


    As a consequence, there was very little conversation.  To everyone''s surprise, each came away from the meal with a new appreciation of the peace resulting from a quiet meal.  None of them wanted it to be that way every night, but being quiet now and then, even if only as something different to do, seemed rather appealing.


    As the others headed upstairs, the twins considered attempting to eavesdrop, but Mimi appeared and herded them off to finish their homework.


    For the rest, the peaceful atmosphere of their dinner lasted until they were all seated in Miranda''s now relatively spacious office.  The young couples unconsciously scooted their chairs close together and held hands.  Robert and Miranda exchanged a glance, smiled, and, with a sense of nostalgia, did the same.


    As always Miranda began speaking directly to the point, "You all know what I do for the Duchess, and you also know that the incident with Avellino could have had disastrous consequences, both for The City and Italy as a whole.  If those behind the incident were clever enough, they might even have been able to accomplish what nobody else has managed in the past 700 years.  If confidence in the banking system were to be lost, The City might eventually collapse, thus negating one of the primary reasons for its existence -- to prevent invasion from the north.


    "Since last fall, Robert has made sure that knowledge of what was attempted has reached every significant bank in the country."


    She waved a hand in negation.  "While the exact details were concealed, the other banks are now aware that outside interests desire to compromise our banking system.  As the French, Spanish, and Greek bankers have as much to lose as we do should there be widespread trouble in Italy, their suspicions naturally focused on the Germans and their so-called "Holy Roman Empire."  We all know that they covet eastern France and northern Italy and that destabilizing the banking system could be a major factor in making that possible.


    Robert grinned at her.  "I didn''t even have to drop any hints.  It''s amazing how worried a banker gets when their money is threatened."  He shrugged somewhat apologetically.  "Though I can''t honestly say that I''m any better.  The thought terrifies me."


    Miranda picked up the reins again, "It won''t be long before they realize that any further attempts at the banks will be a waste of time.  Perhaps they already have.  Agents working for both Blair and Hiroshi have picked up signs of the Germans starting a propaganda campaign in the French and Italian territories bordering their Empire.  They''re hinting that the people living there would be much happier, and richer, if they were part of the Empire rather than of their respective nations.


    "Given enough time, it might actually work, at least in causing some degree of unrest in the regions."


    The children had by then all tightened their grips on their spouse''s hands.  Their eyes remained focused on Miranda with near laser-like intensity as she pressed on,  "Obviously we need to nip that in the bud, just as we did with Avellino.  The Germans may be overly-aggressive, but they are NOT stupid.  Given that an extremely large geographical area is involved, anything overt that we do will likely be spotted immediately.


    "However, Robert and I came up with a plan."


    His snort drew the attention of everyone. "More like you came up with a plan, shoved it at me, and told me to fix the banking part so it will work along with what you already decided to do."


    Miranda had the grace to look repentant, almost.  "Well, yes.  Be that as it may, this is where Mario and Genie come in."


    She looked directly at them and saw, as expected, curiosity and determination.  She nodded inwardly.  From her study of history Genie was well aware of what an expansionist power could do to stability, and how many thousands would die as a result.  As for Mario, his focus was more restricted.  Even so, he was well aware of how generalized unrest could cause trade to collapse.


    "Mario, you''re far too intelligent not to have realized that The Company will no longer require your services.  It has no way of understand that, after you''ve had a few months more training with Hiroshi, you could still outfight four or five bandits by yourself.


    "Frankly, you have nothing in particular to do right now.  Fortunately for all of us, you, and Genie, will be important to the success of our plan.  It will require a great deal of traveling, but by Spring you should have completed your rehabilitation."


    Mario nodded and Miranda added, "I imagine that Genie will probably be willing to accompany you.  Our family believes in couples staying together if at all possible.  As soon as her consciousness returns, I''m sure she''ll agree."


    Facing Genie she continued in a teasing tone, "Really dear.  You''re going to need much better control of your face if you''re to be an agent.  Right now you look just as covetous as you did the first time we ever took you to Fuki''s.  It was cute when you were four, but it''s most unbecoming for an adult."


    While the meaning of her mother''s words initially failed to penetrate the nearly ecstatic state she''d attained when her mother mentioned traveling with Mario, the laughter of the rest of those in the room did.  One of the things she hated more than anything was being embarrassed in public.


    Fighting off the urge to hide her face, Genie sat up straight, glared at her mother, then stuck out her tongue.  After that she composed herself and looked at Miranda attentively, acting as if nothing at all had happened.


    Robert and Miranda shared a quick glance then nodded minutely.  Their little girl was growing up.  Given that what they planned was going to be more than moderately dangerous, it boded well for her survival.


    Miranda took up her interrupted narrative, "What we need is someone moving along the border areas to observe what is happening and to report back if the Germans make any significant efforts so we can move to negate them.  It needs to be someone with a good reason to be there, and, preferably, as few people as possible.  We want to avoid having any observers from the other side spotting a known agent moving around.  Obviously a merchant would have a good reason to be there, and they''d easily be able to disguise their movements in the general flow of others doing business."


    Holding up a hand to forestall Mario from speaking, she went on, "Of course we need to have said merchant making a profit.  Regularly selling merchandise at an obvious loss would be a serious red flag, which means that they need to be selling something that is easily portable, desirable everywhere, and, ideally, with prices appropriate for everyone from peasants to nobles."


    All four of the children made the connection immediately.  Remarkably, even Genie kept her mouth closed and continued to listen.  It seemed that Akane''s efforts at school to get her to think at least for a moment before she spoke were working.


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    Miranda nodded.  "Indeed.  That''s why you have the books in your rooms.  Selling them will be an excellent cover, but that''s only part of the plan."


    Hearing that, all four again had slightly puzzled looks.


    Manda smiled.  Good.  It wouldn''t do for them to figure out everything she was plotting.  If they did, it would mean she was getting senile and needed to be replaced.  "I learned something the other day when I was at Pat Garibaldi''s with the twins.  Customers in bookstores talk about an incredible number of things.  It''s almost as bad as what adults will let drop when they''re around children.  Some of the things I heard they really should have kept private."


    Mario raised a hand.  "So, in addition to selling books, you want us to dredge up whatever useful information we can get from the owners of the stores.  But what about in towns that don''t have bookstores?  Probably 8 out of 10 don''t."


    Miranda smiled at him.  Such a good boy he was.  "That will be up to you.  If you find a town on a busy road, even if it''s on the small side, find a local merchant looking to increase their profits.  If you offer good terms they''ll probably jump at the chance to add selling books to their business."


    She tapped her cheek with her fan.  "If there are any nobles nearby, and there usually should be, you can stay a few extra days under the pretext of ''helping the new store get set up properly''.  Then dig into what kinds of books the nobles want.  Even if they''re for show, they''ll want something."


    Turning to Sara after noticing the worsening scowl on her face, Manda smiled sympathetically.  "Not to worry dear one.  Genie and Mario can make sure that the nobles that just want to show off get fancy bindings on not very important works."


    Genie asked, "Ah, Mother, to do that will require an extremely large number of books.  I doubt that we can carry anywhere near that number with us."


    She turned to Mario.  "Just how many pack mules can the two of us manage without getting exhausted?"


    He nodded absently while thinking.  "No matter what, we''ll need about two others as helpers."  He waved a hand.  "That won''t be a problem.  I know how to find reliable people.  Even so, we''re looking at a maximum of eight pack mules.  That won''t be nearly enough unless we return here every month or so, and that would be woefully inefficient, severely restrict our range, and make us stick out like a sore thumb."


    Miranda nodded again.  "Indeed.  Fortunately there''s a solution.  I probably don''t need to say it, but being thorough matters.  Making assumptions can get you killed.  Therefore, I want all of you to take to your graves what you''re about to see and hear."


    Seeing their gestures of agreement, she murmured, "Mimi, will you join us if you''re free, please?"


    Suddenly, Mimi was standing in the middle of the room.  "Yes Madam, I am."


    She made her way to a chair that had appeared at the side of the room and took a seat.


    Miranda surveyed the others.  Good.  They were only mildly surprised.  She cleared her throat to regain everyone''s attention.  "You have just seen your answer.  If you need a book that you don''t have with you, Mimi will bring it to you, wherever you are.


    "If you''re going to be in a town that already has a bookstore, we''ll arrange for you to have, hmmm....  Mario, do you think that having about 2/3 of what the owner wants each time you arrive would be too obvious?"


    He extended a hand and rocked it back and forth.  That would probably work out.  We should probably alternate between half and 3/4.  Having the same amount each time would eventually draw unwanted attention.


    "But how are we going to know what they want in advance?"


    Miranda smiled, looking rather like a predator about to strike its prey.  "We have a secret weapon, if Mimi agrees."


    Turning to Mimi she asked, "Do you think that those two imps are mature enough to handle it?"


    Mimi nodded.  "Without a doubt.  Besides, it will use up some of their excess energy.  They will probably be more tractable, at least some of the time."


    "Thank you Mimi.  Would you please summon them?"


    Mimi made a gesture with her left hand.  By the time she put it down, Stavros and Consuela were standing in the middle of the room.


    They spun in a circle, after which desperation was their primary expression.  "We didn''t do it."  "Whatever it is, it wasn''t us."  "We''ve been good, at least for the past few days."  "We''re telling the truth!"


    What the twins beheld was shocked looks on everyone''s faces, except for Mimi and Miranda, who looked like cats who''d just been given a special treat.  The rest had all, at least sort of, not been surprised when Mimi had blinked in, but they hadn''t expected that she''d be able to move others as well.


    Mimi stood, slowly and carefully.  She also looked very tired.  She moved to the twins and stroked their heads.  "Be at peace.  You''re not in trouble.  At least not this time."


    They looked at her for reassurance anyway, and seeing it, calmed quickly.


    Mimi resumed her seat and gestured for the twins to sit on the floor at either side of her.


    Miranda resumed, "Genie and Mario will have written out their itinerary before they leave The City.  On days when the twins here have completed their homework to Mimi''s satisfaction, they will visit larger towns which we know have bookstores, or which ''ought'' to have them. We can check with Pat Garibaldi before you leave and get a list from her of those she already knows."


    Miranda thought for a moment.  "No, that''s not a good idea.  We should go straight to the source.  We''ll ask O''Malley.  I suspect that they know where every bookstore in Europe is."


    Seeing the others'' dubious expressions, she lifted her hand.  "Don''t ask me why.  I don''t know myself.  But, I believe that it''s true nonetheless."


    Taking a sip of water, she added, "They''ll establish themselves as local children with a thirst for books."


    Looking at the twins with an expression of mixed pride and exasperation, she continued, "That part shouldn''t be hard.  The hard part will be teaching them how to survey the store to see what any given bookseller is obviously lacking, how to extract from the owner the names of books they wish they had, and how to do it without drawing suspicion.


    She glowered at them.  "I expect that they''ll have mastered those skills before Mario and Genie leave."


    The children needed no prompting to complete her sentence in their minds with the words, "They''d better."


    "When they return from each foray they''ll write out a list.   After that, we can work at obtaining whatever we need and then get the books to Genie and Mario once they''re settled into whatever inn they''ll be staying at.  The next day, when our ''traveling merchants'' visit the bookstore, they can show the owner a few ''samples'' of what they have available.  If one or two are books that they''re most in need of, well, serendipity happens now and then, right?"


    She smiled at the twins.  "As payment for your work, you may keep whatever books you buy while you''re establishing yourselves as locals, as long as the price is reasonable.  No more sneaking expensive titles into the pile."


    Mimi barely managed to grab each of the twins by an ankle as they flew upward.  She dragged them back down before they could go any higher, pushed on their heads till they were properly seated again, and said, "Sit!  Stay!"


    Paolo had by then recovered from his initial, and the second, and third shocks of the evening and asked, "That sounds good and all that, but how are they going to get to all those towns.  I mean, it''s not all that surprising that Mimi''s ''talent'' is being able to move herself from here to there.  Though I must say that the distance you''re talking about is almost overwhelming.


    "But what about the twins?  From what the Bishop has taught me about magic, and the range of its effects, it seems unlikely that Mimi would be able to carry the weight of other people for any distance.  As a matter of fact, it looks like just bringing the twins here was difficult for her."


    Mimi looked to Miranda who nodded back after which Mimi stood and gestured for the children to follow her.  They walked to the middle of the room, whereupon Mimi told Conseula and Stavros, "You may leave now.  Take your baths and get ready for bed.  You still have school tomorrow."


    As they headed toward the door Mimi stopped them. "You may use the other way."


    They looked at her doubtfully but also with some excitement.


    Mimi nodded seriously.  "It is allowable, BUT only when either your mother or I grant you permission.  You may not EVER convince yourselves that ''just this once should be OK''.  Be assured that if you disobey us, I WILL know and you will remember your punishment for a VERY long time.


    "So, now that you''re properly terrified, go ahead and show everyone what you can do.  Just do like I''ve taught you and look at your destination first to make sure nobody else is there or will be able to see you when you arrive."


    She smiled at the twins.  "Go on now.  Either your mother or I will come read with you later."


    They smiled back.  Even though they could read at a level far beyond their age, they still enjoyed cuddling with someone they loved while they did so.


    Taking each other''s hands they blinked to the bathing room.  As they washed and then soaked afterwards, they chatted excitedly in "twin" about what they''d just heard and what it implied.

 Vol 3 - Ch 14 Defying Expectations

    Back in Miranda''s office, Sara was the first to speak, "Remarkable!  Three people with the identical rare skill in The City at the same time.  The chances of it appearing in two consecutive generations like this must be a million-to-one or less.  Then again, nobody had ever expected that Genie''s talent would crop up even once, much less twice, as it did in Avellino.  Darn it.  I''d love to discuss it with Archbishop Comfort, but I certainly can see why I can''t."


    She looked directly at Miranda.  "But I AM going to be spending some of my free time searching the older archives to see if this ability has been recorded."  A thoughtful expression crossed her face.  "Which I doubt.  If it did occur in the past, those in power at the time would likely have had just as strong reasons for keeping it unknown as we do."


    She winced and put her hand over her lower abdomen.  "This little one is telling me that I need to visit the bathroom, immediately or sooner.  So if you''ll excuse me?  I doubt that I''ll be needed any more tonight anyway."


    Miranda nodded.  "We''re finished for now.  Robert can tell Mario what he''ll need to do with bank business later.  We have plenty of time, so I''m sure he''ll be up to speed by the time they leave in the spring."


    She stood.  "Let''s call it a night.  We have between six and seven months before Genie and Mario can set out.  There''s no reason to exhaust ourselves on the first day."


    Grinning evilly at Mario and Genie she added, "Besides.  With Hiroshi working with you two for three days every week from now on, you''ll be exhausted enough as it is."


    Seeing the panic on their faces, she laughed and took Robert''s hand.  As the two of them left the room, they exchanged a tight smile.  They''d fill the others in on how grave the situation really was later, after the excitement had worn off.


    For now, their thoughts were the same.  They had a chance to get to bed early, and they intended to make the most of it.  For people with lives as hectic as theirs, a night where they could  get a reasonable amount of sleep was something to be treasured.


    -----------------


    The next few months went as planned.   Mario had a crash course in banking procedures and finance in general.  They didn''t have time to cover everything in depth, but he learned enough that he could discuss almost any topic that arose without looking like an idiot.


    Robert had eventually decided that what he wanted Mario to do most was to present himself as a kind of roving ambassador for the bank.  With banks where they already had a formal relationship, he''d discuss how much Robert et. al. valued their partnership and that they looked forward to continuing it for at least the next few decades.


    At other banks, particularly the ones in cities where The Bank of the Griffon didn''t already have a presence, Mario would introduce himself and discuss the means by which the free flow of funds could be maintained so as to prevent any one bank, or region from being swamped by capital demands.  If he mentioned what might happen should said regions be "stressed" by "outside agitators," well, all contingencies, no matter how outlandish, needed to be considered, didn''t they?


    Hiroshi and Robert expected that even those whose managements were currently doing their best to convince themselves that nothing was wrong, might then start paying better attention to current events.  If one of Hiroshi''s agents with a well-to-do persona happened by a month or two later to open an account then wondered out loud if things were getting a bit too unsettled and, maybe, they should deposit their funds in a bank closer to Paris instead, well, that would just be a coincidence.


    -----------------


    As for Genie, she was just as exhausted as Miranda had predicted.  In addition to studying at school, she had to take lessons from Sara and Patricia Garibaldi about rare books and the book business.  On top of that were the ever-present lessons from Hiroshi.  She''d thought that he was fierce before, but, now that she would be in the field, the intensity increased by half.


    If anything, Mario''s training with Hiroshi was more thorough than Genie''s as, in addition to his rehabilitation, they had to invent new techniques that he could employ effectively with his weak leg.


    He too was studying about books, but, wisely, Sara and Pat had decided that their students would do better if they weren''t both present.  It took twice as long, but their attention was better focused.


    ------------------------


    Saturday, March 17 in The Year 725 After the Founding


    Sara intercepted Genie as she left the dining room.  She''d been moping around, and looking miserable, since Mario had left the week before.  Two weeks earlier he''d discussed the situation with Robert and Miranda.  They''d decided that if he and Genie were to present themselves as book traders, they needed some sort of verifiable back story in case someone became suspicious and checked up on them.


    Consequently Mario was on a buying trip to Venice, Verona, and Milan.  Besides establishing their cover story, the journey would help Mario assess his recovery.  Working out and then sleeping in a soft bed at night was one thing, but nothing was quite the same as actually being on the road.


    As he wasn''t expected back for another five weeks, Genie had managed to work herself into a fine depression and was making sure that everyone else knew it.  It wasn''t doing her any good, and it was getting to the point where the rest of the family were almost ready to throttle her if she kept on with her theatrics.


    Sara in particular had had more than enough.  Luigi was not yet sleeping all night, at least not regularly, and she too was short on sleep as a result.  It was all well and good that Paolo offered to help, but, all he could really do was change a diaper and cuddle him.  Until such a time as God decreed that men could now breast-feed an infant, Sara had to be awake every time Luigi needed to eat.


    She shoved her momentarily sleeping infant at Genie and said gruffly, "Come with me."  Then she turned and strode briskly down the hall and around two corners, stopping approximately four meters from a dead-end.


    "Give me your hand."


    Genie was about to ask why, but, seeing Sara''s expression, wisely decided that just then was not a good time.  Puzzled, she tentatively stuck out her right hand.  Sara took it firmly, then pulled Genie toward the blank wall in front of them.


    Genie began to shout, "Watch ou...".  Before the second word could make its way out of her mouth, Sara walked into and then through the wall ahead of her, dragging Genie along with her.


    What in the world?


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    After another three meters, Sara made an abrupt left turn and led Genie into a small, but nicely appointed room.  There were two comfortable looking chairs, a small desk, one bookshelf, and an elegant, woven carpet.  Ample light streamed in through three high, south-facing windows.  There was a small crib to the side, as well as a table with diapers and a tightly covered receptacle for used ones.


    Sara pointed to one of the chairs.  "Sit."  After so saying, she did likewise in the other.


    Genie was still trying to wrap her mind about where she was and how they''d arrived, which gave Sara time to get started.


    "You''re bored, somewhat lonely, tired, frustrated, and, more than anything else angry at your mother.  You''re also angry to a lesser extent at Blair and Hiroshi Macklin, but we''ll start with Miranda."


    Genie''s eyes looked laughably like that old cliche, "as if they were about to pop out of their sockets."  But she looked even more like a fish as her mouth was regularly opening and closing, but no words were coming out.  Ordinarily Sara would have had a good laugh, but that would ruin the mood.


    "Of course you miss Mario, but he''ll be back in a few weeks.  Besides, you shouldn''t have time to be worrying about him, as the City Exams are coming up.  What you should be doing is studying your head off for them.  And that my dear girl is exactly the problem.


    "Your mother is still stuck in the last century."


    She rested her chin on her fist for a moment.  "Perhaps a better way to say it would be that, for a human, she''s nearly as bad at handling sudden changes as our species is."  As she said the latter, she pointed to Genie and herself.


    This time she allowed herself a chuckle as Genie''s expression reflected her inner astonishment, both at what Sara had just said about her mother, and at her feeling that Sara was right, about both statements.


    "Genie dear.  This is a rather, um, ''odd'' room.  The reason you never noticed it is that there''s a  strong, but very localized Avoidance spell about half way down the hallway, about two meters in front of the ''wall'' we walked through.  If it weren''t for my ability to detect and bypass such spells, it''s highly unlikely that anyone would have ever found it.  I have no idea who cast the spell, when, why, or how it''s been able to last however long it''s been."


    She tilted her head back and looked at nothing in particular.  "I find it interesting that Sven had no trouble bringing the furnishings in for me.  The spell doesn''t seem to work on him for some reason.  Mimi, on the other hand, has only a partial resistance.  If she''s reading written directions as to how many paces to take and where to turn, she can come here.  Without such directions, she can''t enter the room either."


    Sara shrugged.  "I tested her once.  With just verbal directions she gets confused and forgets where she was going and ends up wandering off to one of her regular duties.


    "Paolo knows that the room is here, but he says he can''t find it either.  He knows that when someone looking for me is wondering where Luigi and I are, he needs to say that we''re ''out''."


    She sighed. "Frankly it''s been a godsend.  When we''re really tired, and the twins are being overly noisy, Luigi and I come in here and take a nap."


    Her expression hardened, and her gaze went to a book on the desk.  "It''s also an excellent place for me to work on analyzing the meaning of what''s in that."


    Shifting her attention back to Genie she added, "It''s amazing what you can learn about your enemy by studying every single word in a treaty.  Both sides always try to slip in verbiage that will twist things to their advantage.  If you analyze how they say something, you can come to understand a great deal about how they think.


    "But that''s not today''s lession.  Maybe later.  For now we need to deal with what''s bothering you, right?"


    Genie nodded.  She had no idea where Sara was heading, but she still couldn''t think of anything meaningful to say, and blurting out, "What in the world are you talking about?" would make her sound incredibly stupid.


    "Good.  Let''s get back to your mother, or rather the local intelligence community.  I know that you''ve been told that an agent needs to be unobtrusive.  Standing out is a ''bad thing''.  As a result, you''ve been instructed to do reasonably well on the City Exams, but not too well and not too badly either."


    Sara nodded, mostly to herself.  "And that my dear child is the problem.  They''re following the ''rules'', but they''re not thinking.  If you''re doing intelligence work, you need to be flexible, right?"


    Genie nodded, but, finally had something useful to say, she hoped, "Ah. Sara?  How is it that you know about intelligence work?  You''re a librarian not an agent."


    "Right you are, in part.  Yes I''m a librarian, but your problem is that you don''t really understand what a librarian does.  We don''t just shove books around all day.  A good librarian knows something about every single topic her collection covers.  If we didn''t, how would we be able to tell someone where what they need is?  That''s especially true when your patron thinks that what they need to know  isn''t where they think it is but is actually filed elsewhere under a different heading.  I may not be an expert in intelligence, but I AM an expert in my field.  So, yes, I know something about yours."


    She smoothed the front of her dress.  "Which brings us back to you.  As I said, they''re not thinking clearly.  You need to not stand out.  I most definitely agree with that.  But what they''ve told you to do WILL make you stand out, and, worst of all, for a long time.


    "What Miranda has forgotten to consider is what family you''re in.  Your sister-in-law, meaning me, scored first in the City Exams.  Your older brother scored third.  If you come in, oh, say, 35th, certain people will be thinking something along the lines of, ''Her older siblings are brilliant.  She can''t be stupid,  she''s just graduated from Ingvold. I wonder if she''s trying to hide something?''.  Others will just shake their heads and think that it''s too bad that Paolo''s younger sister isn''t all that smart compared to him.


    Seeing Genie''s dawning comprehension, Sara finished with, "So, as you''ve just realized, the best way for you not to stand out is to excel in the exams.  Which, if I have assessed the situation correctly, is exactly what you want to do."


    Sara smiled gently.  "You''ve changed, and for the good I think.  Your desire to know things used to be a dim candle.  Now it''s like a fire.  So go ahead, show everyone what you can do.  I''ll deal with your superiors.  Once I''ve spoken to them, they''ll not say a word to you."


    Her smile changed to one that was best described as "predatory." "They won''t dare after I''m finished with them."


    Genie didn''t move.  Seeing Sara as she was at that moment, she didn''t want to draw any attention to herself.


    Sara took a deep breath.  She turned to Genie and smiled in a companionable manner.  Then she pointed to the bookshelf against the north wall.  "Every single book you''re going to need, other than those already in your personal collection, is there."


    She made a calming gesture. "No, I don''t know what the specific questions on the tests will be, but the subjects tested never change.  If the test is to be fair and consistent every year, they can''t."


    Sara stood and retrieved Luigi.  "Go ahead, indulge yourself.  I''ll have Sven come get you if you haven''t surfaced by lunchtime."


    She tilted her head a bit to the side and looked at Genie as if measuring her.  "If you''re dilligent from now on, you''ll likely place either 5th or 6th.  That should suffice."


    Sara began to leave, but stopped and turned back.  "If you concentrate, you''ll be able to find your way back here on your own.  Retracing a path is innate for us."


    Then she left the room with a determined stride.  Consuela and Stavros were gone for the morning, and she was urgently in need of a nap after being up most of the previous night.  For a change, it should actually be quiet enough upstairs that she''d be able to sleep.


    Genie sat without moving for several minutes, trying to absorb what had just happened.  Then she rather bemusedly wandered over the to bookshelf.  Seconds later she was wide awake.  OH MY GOD!  Several of the books were about things that had only been touched on in her classes, the teacher''s reason being that there weren''t adequate references available for them to do more than that.


    Quickly she scanned the rest of the titles.  Truth be told, were her nature different, she''d have been doing acrobatics just like Yoko.  Oh well, one can''t be expert at everything.  Shrugging her shoulders, she extracted a book and made her way to a chair.


    The next thing she knew, Sven was gently shaking her shoulder.  All he said was, "Lunch time."  Then he turned and left.  Genie reluctantly put the book back on the shelf, marking her place with a scrap of paper from the box of such on the desk.  Then she followed Sven down the hallway.

 Vol 3 - Ch 15

    During lunch, everyone kept sneaking looks at Genie when they thought she wasn''t looking.  All were thinking the same thing, "Who is this person who looks like Eugenia but is acting so differently?"


    Genie had, of course, noticed what they were doing, but the happiness bubbling up inside her refused to let the others put a damper on her feelings.


    When they''d finished Genie excused herself with, "I''ve got to get back to studying if I''m going to make the top 10 in the City Exams."  After so saying, she practically ran back down to Sara''s hidden room.


    Miranda was incensed.  What in the world could the girl be thinking?  She was completely ignoring her instructions.  As she stood to follow Genie, Mimi appeared at Sara''s elbow and took Luigi.  "He will sleep for another hour.  I shall care for him while you remonstrate with Madame."


    Once again Sara was amazed by how well the ''Mimivine'' worked, but she was grateful that she had both hands free as Miranda attempted to storm past her.  Spinning in place, Sara hooked her arm through Miranda''s and let Miranda''s momentum pull them outside the dining room.


    Sara smiled up at Miranda''s irritation and said, "It would probably be best if our discussion were private.  Shall we go to your office?"


    Miranda opened her mouth to say, something, when she noticed the almost absurd contrast between Sara''s calm voice, her smile, and the steel in her eyes.


    Catching herself, she closed her mouth, then spoke softly, "Yes.  Why don''t we?"


    They walked, arm-in-arm, to Miranda''s office where they settled in the two armchairs.


    Sara said, "Silence if you please."


    Miranda wove a silence over the door then thought to start speaking but paused.  Perhaps she needed more information.


    Seeing O''Malley''s wink in her mind''s eye did nothing for her temper, but did help her restrain her urge to speak.


    Sara nodded.  "You''ve made several mistakes.  If not corrected, they will eventually result in some extremely unpleasant events that we''d all rather avoid.  However, you can''t avoid what you don''t see coming, which is why we''re talking like this today."


    She smiled thinly then went on, "You''re not thinking.  You''ve followed the protocols your predecessors left you, but you didn''t take the time to see if they still made sense.  In this particular case I''m referring to Genie, but if you''re making that mistake with her, you''re probably doing it in other areas as well.  What those might be I''ll leave to you, Akane, Hiroshi, and Blair to sort out after you understand your error here.


    "I''ll be brief.  As an agent, Genie needs to be unobtrusive, yes.  BUT....


    "Let me pose you a question.  How unobtrusive is someone who is attending Ingvold, comes from a family known to contain some of the most brilliant people in The City, but, for some unknown reason, has only a relatively mediocre score when she takes the City Exams?  Wouldn''t people, possibly unfriendly people, start asking questions you''d rather they didn''t?  Wouldn''t it make more sense for her to score near the top?  Given who she is, not one person in The City would be all that surprised."


    Giving Miranda a piercing look she asked, "I assume you take my point?"


    Miranda''s face went totally blank.  She stood and slowly walked to an ornamental pillar at the side of the room.  Once there she slowly and gently began to bang her head on it, over and over.  Not too hard though. She didn''t want a concussion.  She just wanted to see if so doing would get the stuck gears in her head turning again.


    Sara resumed speaking, "Secondly, you''re forgotten something else important.  Henrietta recruited you when you were in your teens.  Paolo and I, along with some others, have been working with her son Henri for almost two years now.  Leaving him ignorant of most of your plans has been a large mistake."


    That statement was followed shortly by some rather more vigorous head banging, but Sara judged that it still wasn''t enough to cause damage.


    "Finally, and possibly most important, you''ve failed to notice how the population of The City has grown.  A hundred years ago, one person could reasonably manage your position.  You started to wrap your mind around the idea that it was no longer true, barely, after Akane pushed her way into your group.


    "The problem is that you''re a micro-manager.  You need to delegate, starting about now.  If you don''t, you''re going to start missing more and more things, and you''re going to work yourself into an early grave, for which, by the way, your family will never forgive you.


    "That difficulty will no longer exist once I assume your position, but I''d prefer not to have to do so for at least another 30 years.  This time I don''t want that kind of responsibility before my grandchildren are all born.  Murasaki was kind enough to become a roving agent when you took over from her, but she was a widow by then.  Your family will need you to be here for decades yet.


    "Therefore, the only logical conclusion is that you need to create a group of subordinates with defined duties.  They''ll provide you a synopsis of what they''re doing, but you need to spend most of your time from now on as one who decides policy.  The actual procedures for accomplishing your policies won''t be up to you any more unless one of your people asks for help."


    She waved a hand.  "Obviously I''ll be the one creating the information gathering procedures for the libraries and bookstores and filtering that information, which is why you haven''t been getting any reports from the libraries the past two months."


    She peered at Miranda.  "You didn''t even notice, did you?  You''ve been too busy to even think about looking for them, right?"


    There was a sudden flash of light, followed by Lady Blue.  She wasn''t laughing this time.  "It wasn''t but a moment ago that I was rather firmly put in my place by Mimi and having reality thrown in my face.  I still feel rather raw from the verbal flaying.  You have the good fortune of having received a much more gentle reminder of how things are and how they ought to be in your field of operations.  Don''t waste it.  If you don''t listen to Sara, I''ll have to do something, and right now that would be just about as painful for me as it would be for you.


    "So let''s not do it that way.  Just get to work.  Set up a weekly meeting involving Henrietta, Henri, and your various senior people.  Once you get things organized, once a month should be adequate."


    She leered at Miranda and let some of her usual humor show.  "You''ll find that you have a lot more free time for cuddling once you get caught up on your sleep."


    Blue disappeared, leaving Sara and Miranda staring at the space where she''d been standing.


    Sara stood and brushed herself off.  "While I have no intention of having another child for a while, the idea of cuddling more often sounds good to me.  I imagine it does to you too?"


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    Miranda smiled back at her.  "On that particular subject, I think I can say with confidence that we are in complete agreement."


    They laughed, put their arms around each other''s waist, and left to face the world and whatever challenges awaited them.


    --------------------------


    Mario returned almost exactly when they expected, only one day behind his original prediction.  Somewhat to their surprise, he arrived with all the mules fully laden.  That evening at dinner, he reported that there were almost a thousand additional books that should arrive over the next month or so, depending on the weather.  Some were coming from as far away as Sicily, so delivery dates were rather fluid.


    "After having Sara and Patricia beat all that information about book values into my head over the winter, I figured that I should put it to use.  What I''ve ordered and brought back will be what we need to start about three small libraries besides the bookstores we want to get up and running.


    "A few books on order are rather rare and/or in fairly high demand.  They''ll be coming by ordinary post.  If they get special attention of any sort, they''re likely to be stolen somewhere along the way."  He darted a mischievous look at Sara.  "I believe that several of them are on your want list."


    Before she could embarrass herself by jumping up and down, he turned to Robert.  "I met with the principles of all the small and medium size banks you suggested.  The most common reactions were relief and/or gratitude.  They were relieved that there weren''t any new plots to deal with, and grateful that such an important bank as yours would show concern for them."


    He added, with a twinkle in his eye, "I doubt that you''ll be surprised to know that some of them intend to seek more formal ties now that they know you''ll be willing to discuss them."


    Robert contrived to look innocent, which prompted a spate of generalized laughter.


    After that, Mario regaled everyone with tales of happenings on the road and in the cities and towns he''d passed through.  While everyone enjoyed them, Genie was deliriously happy.  Only another six weeks and she''d be leaving with him and able to see for herself!


    Later that evening, after they''d had a private celebration of Mario''s return and were getting ready for bed, Genie told Mario about Sara''s manipulations.   "How about that?  It''s wonderful!  Now I''ll be able to brag openly about how smart my wife is.  It galled me to have to pretend that you were anything other than the genius I know you are."


    She whacked him with a pillow.  "Braggart!   You just want to bask in the glory of my superior intellect.  That and use me to distract customers while you put one over on them."


    Putting hand over wounded heart he moaned, "I can''t believe you''d say something like that.  I''m a completely honest, upstanding, manipulative merchant."


    Looking puzzled he said, "Oh.  I guess you should leave out that last part when you tell others about me."


    Laughing loudly, they threw their arms about each other and fell on the bed.  Once there, they decided that another celebration would be in order, so they did, after which they fell asleep while still wrapped in each other''s arms.


    -------------------


    The next few weeks passed in the proverbial blur.  Genie spent all her free time studying, except on Saturday afternoons, when Mario drilled her in trail procedures until she could manage in her sleep.  Twice he dragged her out in a pouring rain to make sure that she could properly handle the tasks even in the worst conditions.  Both times they returned with blue lips, but Genie''s confidence climbed steadily.


    Learning how to make every moment count when setting up and tearing down a camp helped immeasurably with her studies.  She developed the knack of focusing on only the most important part of what she was reading and then moving on to the next.


    The net result of her improved study techniques was that rather than 5th or 6th in the City Exams, she managed to tie Paolo and come in third.   This time, what with Genie being a student at Ingvold and expected to do reasonably well, Sara and Paolo only managed to quadruple the money they bet on her.  However, as they wagered almost five times as much as they had four years earlier, their profits were close to 50,000 ducats.


    (In the ensuing five years, things became bad enough that any bookie who saw them coming somehow managed to disappear before either Sara or Paolo could speak to them.  After that, they had to use proxies to place their wagers.)


    --------------------


    Wednesday, May 30, in The Year 725 After the Founding


    As Sara and Paolo were coming in the door after work, they were met by Stavros and Consuela heading the opposite direction.  Once they were outside, they broke into a sprint.


    They watched as the twins disappeared down the street then turned back to find Mimi in front of them.  "They will be having dinner at the Fukui''s tonight.  Madame Fukui has graciously accepted both their presence and that of Guiseppi and Robert Macklin.  When you add in that tomboy daughter of hers, she''s going to have her hands full....  Or she would if things were as usual."


    Mimi grinned mischievously. "But, given the situation, I rather suspect that this one night Rebecca will be too busy with other things to get into trouble with Consuela and Stavros."


    She leaned forward and whispered in a conspiratorial manner, "It seems that she has a bit of a crush on Guiseppi.  She''ll probably be practicing how not to be obvious when flirting with a boy rather than acting up."


    She paused briefly, then added, "So, Mrs. Akane probably won''t be troubled by the children in the way she is expecting, though she''s likely to be at least moderately distressed when she realizes what Rebecca is doing.


    "If you''ll excuse me, I still have preparations to make for dinner."  So saying she turned and headed toward the kitchen, but not before both Sara and Paolo heard the faint snickers that trailed her down the hall.


    They smiled at each other, but the smiles were touched with worry.  If the children were gone from both their home and the Macklin''s, it was a sure bet that Blair and Hiroshi would be here tonight.  Also, Mimi had mentioned that Akane would be dealing with the children.  That was what really bothered them.


    Mimi never, ever misspoke.  She hadn''t mentioned Jason and the twins, which meant that they too were likely to be here.  There had to be something major in the offing.


    They took each other''s hands, finding that both their palms were a bit sweaty.  Shrugging their shoulders, they hurried upstairs to their room.  They''d best put on some of their better clothes for dinner.


    ----------------------


    Genie and Mario were just a hair late for dinner, though not enough to merit a reprimand.  Miranda noticed Genie flashing a look of gratitude in the direction of Hibiki and Yoko. Combining that with the very slightly rumpled front of Genie''s dress, Manda supposed that the twins had warned her to change into something even better than what she''d originally planned to wear.


    Darn!  She''d been looking forward to seeing how embarrassed Genie and Mario were when they arrived wearing casual clothing.  Oh well.  You don''t get everything you want.  She....


    The shock of seeing an image of O''Malley glaring at her with an incredibly disgusted look caused Manda to pitch forward, due to losing control of her upper body for a moment.  She barely was able to stop before she banged her head on the table.


    As she straightened she saw concerned looks all around.  "It''s nothing.  I just slipped."


    Ignoring the dubious looks from everyone, she began by looking at Hiroshi and Blair and then the twins and Jason.  "Thank you for coming on such incredibly short notice.  Please, let''s have our meal first.  I''m not entirely sure how long our discussion will last, so we''d best be well fortified."


    So saying she turned to Mimi.  "Please begin serving."


    For the duration of their dinner, there were four separate conversations.  Manda and Blair caught up on nothing of much import.  Robert and Hiroshi did likewise regarding their banks.  Sara, Paolo, and Mario talked about books, and travel.  The twins, Jason, and Genie were seen to do nothing but eat, though all knew that they were busy with a "twin" discussion about what might be going on.


    Everyone ate mechanically, which resulted in the meal lasting less than half as long as it usually would.


    Once they''d finished and everything had been cleared away Miranda stood.  That action was followed by many apprehensive looks.  There had to be something important that had happened, or was about to, if she had felt the need to hold such a large meeting on the eve of Genie''s and Mario''s departure on their first expedition.


    Miranda twitched an eyebrow at Mimi who responded by exiting the dining room through the swinging door that lead to the kitchen.  She returned less than a minute later with a huge cake, followed by Sven who was carefully cradling three bottles of wine.  Behind him was Ailin, with a tray holding a forest of goblets.


    Mimi placed the cake in the middle of the table, after which Sven opened the wine and served.  Mario noticed that the wine was one known to be particularly fine and in short supply.


    Throughout the procedure, Miranda had remained standing.  Once everyone had a goblet of wine she raised hers.  "A toast!  To Genie and Mario.  May their travels bring them wonderful new experiences."


    She grinned at them.  "Oh, and while you''re at it, send back as much information as possible.  If you don''t, we''ll make you pay for the party when you return.  As I''m sure Mario has noticed, this wine is one that''s incredibly expensive."


    Everyone laughed.  They were reasonably certain that she was joking.


    Mimi served cake to the family, after which she, Ailin, and Sven served themselves and joined the rest of the family in their celebration.

 Vol 3 - Ch 16 On the Road

    Wednesday September 19, in The Year 725 After the Founding


    Genie''s eyelids snapped open.  It was still dark inside the room, but when she looked out the window and across the roof of the inn, she could see the first, faint signs of dawn.  She yawned, stretched, then rolled over and poked Mario in the ribs.


    "Up and at ''em sleepyhead.  If we make decent time the next two days, we''ll get to Metz early and we''ll have a full day to sightsee.  I want to see the Basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains.  It''s the oldest church in France!  Oh, and I want to see how the construction is going on the Cathedral of Saint Stephen.  Even though it''s not nearly complete, I heard from that monk in Epinal that''s it''s already awesome."


    "Ye Gods woman.  You know I was up late with that tinker from Zurich.  He knew a lot more about what was going on in Austria than he realized, and I wanted to get everything I could out of him before he passed out."


    "Exactly.  That''s why I woke you up.  We need to pass your information on to the twins before they have to leave for school.  So, give me your hand.  You know that it gives us all a nasty headache if I''m not touching you when I call them."


    She sighed, her frustration evident.  "I wish we''d known about that when we were first testing things out, but how could we?  We were only about nine kilometers apart then, and now it''s nearly 400."


    Mario did her one better.  He slid closer and plastered the length of his body against hers.  Seeing her surprise, he murmured, "If holding my hand helps, then this ought to be even better, right?"


    He always enjoyed seeing her blush.  It made her even that much more cute.  For a moment she pretended to struggle, and acted like she wanted to push him away, but the mounting intensity of her purr made her true feelings apparent.


    Not for the first time he felt a tingle of surprise.  He''d heard other men complaining about how hard it was sometimes to tell if a woman was willing to be held or not.  It made no sense.  If you paid attention to whether or not they were purring, and how strongly, it didn''t take a genius to figure it out.


    Suddenly a thought struck him.  Could it be that only some women purred when they were excited or aroused?  He''d not thought of that before.  He knew that Hibiki did.  He''d heard her that night in the alley when he and Genie had been saying "goodbye," but he''d heard nothing from Yoko.  He''d also heard Sara purring a time or two when she was nuzzling Paolo in the hall when they thought they were alone in the house.


    Unfortunately there was no way to satisfy his curiosity.  He''d never be able to bring himself to ask anyone, especially not Genie.  Regardless of the answer, she''d tease him about asking for years.


    As he was thinking about that conundrum, he was murmuring the information he needed to pass along into Genie''s ear.  After being on the road for over three months, they''d perfected the process.  He''s tell Genie one thing, then she''d repeat it to the twins, who would alternate so they could record what she said more quickly.  Once one of them told her that she''d finished writing down one item, Genie would nod and Mario would continue.  Sometime, as today, it would take almost an hour, though it usually took only about 10 minutes.


    By the time they were finished, both of them were frustrated.  Because of the length of the report, there wasn''t any time to do anything other than get dressed, eat breakfast, and get on the road.  The twins had told Genie that there would be a cache of books about three hours outside of Metz.  There would be almost 200 this time instead of the usual dozen or so.  The twins hadn''t explained fully, though there''d apparently be a detailed explanation in one of the packages.  As a precaution, it was written in Japanese.  If someone else chanced to find the cache, it wouldn''t do for them to start asking questions about the intended recipients.


    ---------------


    They got an early start the following day as they''d spent the night in a smallish village that was unsuitable for a bookstore and also had no other travelers whom they could pump for gossip.


    It happened at about 9 a.m.  The horses noticed it first.  They began to act restive and required a bit of prodding to continue down the road.  No words were necessary.  Three of the humans pulled out their swords.  The fourth, a woman who was one of the finest shots with a bow that Genie had ever seen, quickly strung her composite bow and loosely nocked an arrow.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    They were heading slightly downhill, and there was a bit of a bend in the road about 100 meters ahead.  It was a good place for an ambush.  As they rode closer, they smelled blood.  A lot of blood.  Finally they had to dismount and lead the animals.


    Rounding the bend, they saw a fist-sized rock in the middle of the road, with a sheet of paper under it.  While the others continued to scan the surrounding trees for enemies, Genie cautiously approached, sword in hand.   While keeping watch to both sides, she moved the rock with her toe then picked up the note.


    The two closest to her heard her sigh.  They all heard the "all clear" whistle that followed it and moved closer so they could hear what she had to say.  However, they still kept their backs to her and their eyes on the forest.


    "It seems that a certain someone was watching the cache to make sure that nobody stole anything.  Unfortunately, at least for them, a group of bandits decided to camp less than 50 meters away last night.  She says that there''s a spring and a flat area just to the north.  She also says that there was no way that they''d miss seeing the cache this morning as it was only hidden so as to not be seen from the road.  It was clearly visible from behind.


    "She also says that, since there were 11 bandits, and because she feared that even we might have trouble with that many, AND as ''they'', whoever ''they'' are, were getting rusty from lack of practice, ''they'' decided to remove the bandits from the picture so as not to ''trouble'' us with having to do so ''which might have delayed you for some 30 minutes''."


    Genie gave an exasperated sigh, then laughed. "Then it says that once they realized that it would only take a few minutes to dispatch the bandits, they waited until they heard all their names.  After that they sent a certain pair of twins to Metz to check on bounties.  This morning they ''removed the miscreants'', packed up their camp, fed and watered the horses, and tied the bodies on them.


    Genie turned to a second page.  "There''s a list of names here with the bounties for each. Apparently this was a rather notorious bunch."


    She lifted her head and laughed wryly.  "She also says that once word gets around that we took out this particular group, ''even those not in their right minds'' are likely to not even think about bothering us in the future."


    Turning to a third page she scanned it, then dropped to her knees, and laughed till she cried.  Twice she tried to speak, but was unable to stop the laughter from returning and waved her arm around in a "wait a minute" gesture.


    Once she finally had herself under control, though she still had tears on her cheeks, she managed to speak, "This third page is a list of everything of value they had on them.  It also includes the names of the shops in Metz that will give us the best prices when we''re ready to sell."


    There was a final page, and Genie''s expression sobered as she read it.  "There''s a separate package of things whose proper owners could be determined.  Them or their heirs."


    As there was nothing else meaningful to be said, they gathered everything and set out for Metz.


    When they arrived, the gate guards, after watching them approach with wary astonishment, directed them to the local guard headquarters.  They were met with suspicion, though that disappeared once the sergeant on duty identified several of the deceased.  Thereafter they were treated as minor celebrities.  The Guard had long experience with this particular group, and some had kinfolk who had been killed by them.


    The Guard Commander himself escorted them to the local branch of The Bank of the Griffon once Mario made it clear that they were in no way considering keeping the bounty payments on their persons.  After Mario introduced himself at the bank, the manager, who was also one of the partners, was summoned and bustled out to meet with them herself, which surprised the Commander no end.


    However, once the manager explained that Mario was a personal representative of the senior partner at the home office of the bank, the Commander relaxed and prepared to excuse himself.  He hurriedly reviewed his interactions with the group.  He decided that nothing he''d said could be construed in any way as an insult.  In addition to being formidable, these people were also of some importance.  Although it was new, this branch of The Bank of The Griffon was already patronized by many of the nobility and the upper classes.  One such as he, with aspirations to higher office, vigorously avoided offending those who might someday assist, or at least not oppose, his advancement.


    Lastly he decided that he''d best cover all possibilities, just in case, "If you don''t mind, could you tell me where in town you''ll be staying?"


    As Mario opened his mouth to answer, the bank manager interjected, "A rather, um...determined young lady left word yesterday that you''d be arriving today and that you planned on staying at the Balancing Peddlar."


    Genie grinned.  "Was her name perchance Mimi?"


    The manager glanced upward, toward the ceiling, while thinking. "Now that you mention it, yes, that''s what she said."


    Genie turned to the Guard Commander.  "The Balancing Peddlar it is."


    The Commander bowed slightly and took his leave.  Mario finished his self-introduction and went with the manager to her office to begin briefing her on the new bank policies and procedures.   As they headed to the back of the building, Genie smiled, shook her head, and saw about taking care of their deposit.  That and gently fishing for any local gossip of interest that the clerk handling the transaction might have to offer.

 Vol 3 - Ch 17 Arrival at Metz

    In a city as large as Metz, their "accomplishment" of destroying that particular group of bandits made barely a ripple.  In spite of their fairly widespread activities, the bandits has directly impacted less than 1% of those who lived there. Even in the countryside they were known mostly by those who lived on isolated farms and small villages and had survived their attacks.


    It was Mario and Genie''s activities in the book market that eventually planted their names in the minds of a fairly large number of city dwellers.  There were already several small bookstores.  At their first stop, the sign in the window said only, "Books.  Robin Pascal proprietor."  According to the twins, its owner had wanted to expand for some time but had chafed at the paucity of decent books that would justify a larger space.  When Mario and Genie arrived, at least 60% of those in Metz who were buying books had agents shipping them from Paris or Reims.


    When they initially approached the owner, she was mildly receptive.  Travellers with books to sell were fairly common, though they rarely had anything of interest.  Even then it was uncommon that they had taken proper care of the volumes, and they were usually damaged.


    Her enthusiasm increased when Genie lifted their sample package to the counter.  It was carefully wrapped in a fine material that...well, Robin wasn''t sure what it was.  Obviously not oilcloth as that could of itself have damaged a book.  What was of import was that it seemed like it would be waterproof.


    After Genie had finished unwrapping the books, Robin did her best to put on her poker face, but it was far too late.  Both Mario and Genie had seen the glint of "OH MY GOD!" in her eyes when she saw both the condition of the books and the titles.


    As she was saying that, yes, she would probably be interested in the books, if the price was reasonable, Mario casually asked if Madame Pascal would perhaps be interested in viewing the other 700 odd books they had with them.


    Robin disappeared from sight, followed by a "thud" as she  collapsed to the floor.  Genie rushed around the end of the counter to see if she had been injured.  What she saw was a woman carefully cradling the book she''d been holding when she''d fallen.  She had a beatific smile on her face and was murmuring over and over, "Books.  Wonderful, glorious books.  Hundreds and hundreds of lovely books."


    Genie knelt beside Robin and carefully shook her shoulder until her eyes began to focus again.  "Oh. Dear me.  Oh my.  Please forgive me.  I don''t know what to say!"


    Smiling back at her Genie said, "You needn''t say anything.  We wouldn''t be here with so many books if we didn''t love them too."


    So saying, Genie stood and offered Mme. Pascal a hand up after which Genie brushed her off, as she still had the book clasped tightly to her chest.


    Mario''s smile was amused, but also compassionate as he slowly looked around the shop. "Perhaps here would not be the best place to see what we have to offer.  You really don''t have enough space to perform a thorough examination.  Might I suggest the meeting room at The Bank of The Griffon?"


    Robin nodded dumbly, still somewhat in shock.  Like most people of a bookish turn, she didn''t cope with sudden, unexpected changes very well.


    Mario smiled and continued,  "Very well then. I''ll arrange it.  The question is what day.  Would tomorrow afternoon be too soon?"


    Robin shook her head "no" vigorously as her excitement was beginning to overcome her numbness.


    Genie finished by saying, "Then let''s do that.  It will take us several hours to get everything inside and properly unpacked.  I expect that we can begin around 2 p.m.  If need be, we can arrange dinner there, and continue however long you''ll need."


    Robin smiled, wholeheartedly.  She had no idea what was going on, but at the moment she didn''t care.  Even if she ended up not buying anything at all...well, she''d probably purchase at least a few books no matter what...she still was looking forward to seeing what they had.


    With that they parted company, and Robin, reluctantly, surrendered the samples.


    -----------------------------


    As they were on their way back to The Peddlar, Genie took Mario''s hand.  "Guide me.  I need to talk to the others, and I can''t do both that and watch where I''m going."


    Mario nodded.  They''d worked this out early in their travels, so it was almost second-nature now.


    "Yoko, Jason, Biki.  I need to talk to you right now.  Can two of you get free from whatever you''re doing?"


    There was a barely understandable, heavily distorted, "Yessss, sssoon."  Apparently Jason was by himself.


    A few minutes later Yoko''s voice began with, "OK.  Biki ''slipped'' and banged her knee, so we''re at the nurse''s office getting it checked.  We can''t write anything down, so keep it short enough that we can memorize whatever it is."


    "That''s fine Yoko."  Genie explained the situation, ending with, "We''re going to need a letter from your father, my father, or better yet both, directing the manager here to cooperate fully with Mario, and authorizing Mario to approve a loan of up to 10,000 ducats (however much that is in francs) in order to fund the ''expansion of suitable, already successful businesses'' now that there have been no further signs of plague in the past two years."


    "Yeah, can do.  And I think I''ll have him add something about not just sending Mario ta deliver the latest policies, but also to ''assist'' the manager there in ferreting out said new opportunities due ta her heavy work load.  I ''spect that Mario can easily bamboozle the manager with the appropriate profit figures resulting from such a loan.  Right?"


    Genie giggled.  "Of course he can, though I think I''ll phrase it a bit more diplomatically when I''m briefing him.  Anyway, that''s it for now.  Tell my sibs that  we''re at the Balancing Peddlar Inn.  We''ll be there from about 3 p.m. on, so they can just pop in after they get home from school."


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "Will do.  See ya later.  Bye."


    "All right wench, give!  What were you two up to.  That laugh at the end there sounded rather wicked."


    "What?  Me?  You must be imagining things.  Besides, it was ''girl talk''.  The details are not for lowly males to know."


    Mario didn''t even wince when he saw Genie''s vacant-eyed, ''mindless female'' face. He''d already learned that if she decided to give him that look, conversation was a lost cause.


    They spent the rest of the day seeming to sight-see.  To any watchers, they''d appear to be no different from any other pilgrims.


    -----------------


    At around 10 minutes before 3 p.m., Genie was surprised by Jason.  "Genie, whatever you do, do NOT sell the horses that you got from the bandits.  You''re going to need them.  ALL of them."


    She stumbled slightly, grabbing at Mario''s sleeve to catch her balance.  Seeing him turn to her with surprise, she murmured "Jason," then took his hand.


    Genie could "feel" Biki''s vigorous nod in the background.


    "What?  Why not?"


    "Actually, we''re not quite sure.  Priss from the Mule''s Tale just left.  She said that she''d come with a private message.  When we got her into the family parlor, she just stood there sort of glassy eyed, staring at the wall.  She said, ''Tell them that they''ll need all of the horses plus three more as well.  They''ll discover the reason within the next few hours, probably.  Definitely by tomorrow.  The situation is too fluid for me to see anything else that they''ll need.''


    "The next thing we knew she''d excused herself and left.  Before we could even think about talking about what had just happened, Ailin walked in.  She said something like, ''Be at peace little ones.  Miss Priscilla is a Foreseer.  It''s a talent nearly as rare as Miss Kaho''s Lightweaving. They usually only ''see'' events affecting themselves and those close to them.  If she saw something in France....  I can''t even guess how such might affect The City, but it must be important.''


    "So there you have it.  If we find out more, we''ll let  you know.  We''ve sent a message to your mother and mine about what she said, just in case.  Since tomorrow is Saturday, I think we''ll have lunch at the Mule''s Tale and have a little talk with Mrs. Ringvold.  If we learn anything else, we''ll let you know right away."


    As always, Jason didn''t bother with saying goodbye, he just stopped without thinking about whether or not Genie might have something to say.


    Genie facepalmed and sighed.  Within a week of leaving they''d learned that trying to immediately reconnect with the others wouldn''t work.  There was always a span of anywhere from half an hour to an hour and a half where it couldn''t be done.  Thus far they had no idea as to why.


    Mario looked around and, finding no others nearby, stopped and turned to Genie.  "All right. Let''s get it over with now where nobody can hear us.  Give me the bad news first."


    Genie shrugged.  "It''s not bad.  At least I don''t think so.  Probably anyway.  It seems that someone named Priss from the Mule''s Tale marched into the Fukui''s home and announced that we''re not to sell the horses we got from the bandits.  Not only that, we''re to buy three more."


    She raised her face to the heavens and stared at the sky.  "I don''t even know who this ''Priss'' is, much less why she showed up at their doorstep.  All Jason said is that she''s apparently a ''Foreseer'' and that Ailin vouched for the accuracy of whatever it is she saw."


    "That''s it?  He didn''t say anything else?"


    "Not one word, though, to be fair, it sounds like Priss didn''t tell Jason and the twins any more that that either."


    Mario stroked his chin slowly.  "A Foreseer huh?  I''ve heard of them, but I never imagined that someone I know of personally would be one."


    Seeing Genie rounding on him with a frown on her face he hurried on, "I''ve run into Priss now and then.  She''s one of the upstairs maids at the Mule''s Tale.  At least she was until recently.  I think she''s doing something else now as well.  I don''t know the details, but I''ve seen her coming out of the room where Alicia and Aldus keep their business records.  Each time they followed right behind her.  Twice they seemed very pleased about something, and once, well, let''s just say not so much."


    Genie chuckled.  "You mean they looked royally pissed off, right?"


    "Well, yeah, but I didn''t want to come right out and say it.  I didn''t want to offend you."


    She stood on her toes and whacked him, gently, on the top of the head.  "I seriously doubt that there''s anything you could say that would ''offend my sensibilities''.  Mother always says that I don''t have any.


    "So my love, stop trying to sugar-coat things.  I''m a big girl.  I can take it.  Well, anything except ghost stories.  For some reason they really creep me out."


    They shared a laugh, then headed back to the inn.  They needed to let the horse dealer they had an appointment with know that they were now buying and not selling.  They didn''t know enough about the market in Metz to know if she was going to be happy or pissed, so they discussed strategies for both situations.  First thing in the morning they''d need to make arrangements for the use of the bank''s meeting room, and for that they needed to wait for the letter that the twins would be bringing.


    To their surprise, the twins appeared just after 3:30 p.m.  They''d blinked over as soon as Jason came by with the documents they were to deliver.  First things first.  Both Consuela and Stavros gave Genie big hugs, and somewhat shorter ones to Mario.


    Before Genie could say anything, the twins said, "It''s cause we haven''t seen you any time during the past three months where we could be sure it was safe to let on that we know you.  Sure, we''ve been handing you messages and packages, but it''s not the same and, well, I guess we kinda missed you, or something.  So, since we''re private here in your room...."


    Genie gathered them in her arms and hugged them again.  "Well, truth be told, though I''m shocked to realize it, I guess I''ve kinda missed you two scamps too."  Then she stood back and put her hands on her hips, "From the looks of you, you''re raring to go exploring."


    Seeing their excited nods, she added, "And what about your homework?"


    "Oh that...."


    "Yes that."


    ''Suela began, "Lucky for us there wasn''t any for the afternoon classes today, and since Jason gave us a heads up about needing to bring you that letter just as lunch started...."


    Then Stavros smiled up at his sister.  "We finished our morning homework while we were eating. We''ll double check it Sunday afternoon, just in case.


    "We grabbed a snack before we left, and Mother said that we can stay until just before sunset, which means that we have at least another two hours."


    ''Suela finished with, "So we''re going to go exploring.  We hardly saw anything when we were here before except for the bookstores.  Besides, you need to know more about how things are laid out here anyway, so we''ll stop by before we leave if we see anything worth reporting."


    As they''d been speaking, the twins had been inching toward the door.  Once Consuela finished speaking, they hurried out the door.  Immediately after, rapid footsteps could be heard heading downstairs.


    Mario sighed.  "I wish I had their energy.  If we could just figure out how to store it,  I''m sure there''d be a good market for it."


    Genie punched him lightly in the upper arm.  "You''re incorrigible.  You''d try to sell the wind if you could figure out how to package it."


    Mario nodded seriously.  "Yes. That''s true.  What''s your point?"


    Her response was to stare at the ceiling, make the "Why me?" gesture, and mutter "Men!," after which they both hurried to make themselves more presentable.  Since they''d received the new letter so quickly, they''d be able to meet the manager of the bank today rather than in the morning.  There''d be a smaller likelihood of ruffled feathers if they gave her more time to get things ready.

 Vol 3 - Ch 18 Unexpected Meetings

    ''Suela and Stav had no such serious concerns.  They were reveling in their chance to explore another new town.  The last time their family had taken a trip outside The City had been six years earlier when they were only five, and they remembered almost nothing about it.  Everything in Metz was new.  Their excitement, almost, prevented them from noticing the stench.  Having now visited four cities and more than a dozen large villages, they had realized how lucky they were to live in The City.  They had also gained an appreciation for the law banning all but necessary equine traffic.


    They wandered here and there for an hour or so as they searched to see if there were a library of some sort.  The sun was getting lower, and they were about ready to blink home when  they were diverted by their noses, this time pleasantly.  They followed a glorious scent down the road and around a corner to a small marketplace where a stall was selling baked apple slices drizzled with honey that had a touch of cinnamon mixed into it.   They might have become jaded about sweets in general, due to their previous, weekly trips to Fukui''s, but the appeal of the apples was not to be denied.


    As they were finishing the last crumbs of their snack, Stavros noticed a young girl of about six crouched in a nearby shadow.  Her clothing was filthy, but it looked to be made of some sort of sturdy material.  She was also a bit on the scrawny side, though, at least not yet, showing signs of starvation.  As he and Consulea finished the last of their snacks, she turned away, though not before Stavros saw the mix of frustration and despair in her eyes.


    "Hey sis, take a look.  There''s a kid in the alley just over there who looks like she was hoping to scrounge our leftovers.  She looks fairly skinny too."


    ''Suela casually turned and appeared to be looking at something a couple of meters above the little girl''s head.  "I''m pretty sure she didn''t see my face.  Your body was blocking her view.  That alley ends after about 30 meters, right on the street we were on when we first smelled the apples.  If we follow her, she''ll probably take off.  How ''bout I blink into the other end of the alley, and you block this side.  Once we calm her down, we can feed her and find out what''s going on."


    "Sounds good to me ''Suela.  Just be sure you blink into a shadow and nobody sees you."


    She opened her mouth to flay him for thinking that she could forget something so basic, but instead shook her head in disgust.  There wasn''t time if they were going to help the child.  She stepped into  a darker shadow cast by the late-afternoon sun, looked around to be sure that nobody was watching, then disappeared.


    Stavros quickly bought another of the apple treats, then casually strolled to the opening of the alley and headed in.  It wasn''t all that long, in truth only about 16 meters or so and not 30 as ''Suela had thought.  As he approached the exit, he saw ''Suela had crouched down and was talking to the little girl.  He couldn''t make out the words as she was almost whispering, but he could make out that she was using her "be nice to children but don''t treat them like idiots" tone.


    He nodded to himself.  They''d both detested being talked down to at that age.  He snorted and shook his head.  They still felt that way, and he suspected that it was likely that feeling would last till the end of their lives.


    He was watching the two of them more than he was watching his feet, and his right toe caught the end of a stray stick, causing a slight noise.  The girl started to jump up, much like a deer surprised in the forest, but ''Suela patted her shoulder.  "It''s all right.  That''s my brother.  We both saw that you looked hungry, so he got you one of those apple treats."


    ''Suela let a puzzled look flow across her face.  "At least it''s for you if you like such things.  If you don''t, we won''t make you eat it.  That wouldn''t be very nice of us, would it?"


    Stavros had reached them by then, and also crouched down, offering the treat to the little one who first nodded, then shook her head, then grabbed at the apples.  However, before her hand reached the container, she stopped it, then again reached out, slowly, and took it.


    The twins'' eyes met above her as she ate.  Stavros said, "Looks like food is not a regular thing in her life.  Not to mention bathing.  She doesn''t smell all that good."


    ''Suela frowned.  "Nor decent clothing.  All I see is rags that have been badly sewn together and then sewn on top of each other, though they look surprisingly normal from a distance.  Do you supposed she lives on the streets?  Is such a thing even possible?  No child in The City would be left alone like that, ever."


    While they were talking, the little one stopped eating, cocked her head to the side and looked at them as if she had been listening, or trying to.  She finished every last bit of the treat, licked her fingers, then looked up at the twins.


    "aaaa...  aaHH.  AHHHH  AAAHHHH!!!"


    The twins claped their hands over their ears even though the sound was in their minds.  It grew louder, then louder still, until their heads felt as if they might collapse from the pressure.  They screamed, "MIMI!  HELP!"


    Mimi bent forward and patted child on the head.  "Not that way little one.  Abide a while and I''ll show you the proper way to do it.  For now, here, have a cookie while we talk."


    Taking the still warm cookie from Mimi''s hand, the little girl nodded, smiled, and sat herself on a small, rickety box.


    The sudden relief from the pressure in their heads caused both of the twins to fall backwards.  Fortunately, they''d almost been on the ground anyway, so the only injury was to their dignity when they landed firmly on their backsides.


    As they struggled to get their minds working again, they heard Mimi saying, "OK.  I see. Your name is Matilda, you don''t like being called Mattie except by close friends, and you HATE being called Tillie.  That makes sense, and I understand your reason.  What I don''t understand is why you''re here alone.  If you''re here, then the full hand of your wing should be together. You NEVER undertake solo missions.  Where are the other 5 of you?"


    For the next few minutes there was no sound other than the rustling of Mimi''s skirt as she occasionally shifted position.  The twins saw her nod on occasion, but there was nothing they could hear or quite hear, though they could, almost, catch a faint hum off and on.


    Mimi took both of Matilda''s hands in hers, then she turned her head toward the twins with a look of mild frustration.  "Oh bother!  If I have to tell you everything she says, it will be wasting time.  Here, do exactly as I show you, and this will be a lot simpler.  Start by listening lower than you usually do when you speak ''twin''.  Just follow the humming noise with your minds until you find where it''s loudest."


    Before they could ask "what humming noise?," the intermittent hum they''d heard earlier became much stronger, though it was still weak.


    "That''s right.  Listen and follow it like you would an unfamiliar path in the woods.  Don''t get distracted by forks, just stay on the trail that sounds loudest."


    They looked at each other, nodded, took each other''s hands, and closed their eyes.  It really was much like a path in the forest, complete with dappled shade that seemed to be trying to obscure the way.  They gritted their teeth and followed.  Some minutes later, they saw where it ended, and where it ended was where Mimi stood.


    "Very good.  I knew you could do it."


    She turned to look behind her, bent slightly, and put her right hand behind her dress.  When she turned back and straightened, Matilda was gently pulled to stand beside her.


    "Say hello Mattie."


    "Hello.  I''m sorry I hurt you when I tried to talk to you before.  I didn''t know how to do it right.  Nobody every heard me before.  I didn''t know it would hurt."


    Looking up at Mimi she smiled broadly.  "But now I know how to talk right.  Mimi showed me.  That''s why she can call me Mattie, ''cause she''s my friend."


    Her smile became shy as she turned to look at the twins.  "Will you be my friends too?"


    Smiling back they answered, "Of course we will.  It''s good to have friends, even lots of friends.  Do you have some other friends we can meet?"


    For an instant, Mimi beamed her approval, though it was quickly shuttered.  It wouldn''t do to let them think that she''d go easier on them the next time they screwed something up.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.    Instead she said, "It''s getting on toward evening.  Mattie, let''s go see your other friends.  You said that you all sleep in the same place, right?"


    "Uh-huh.  Let''s go.  I want them to meet you too!"


    They all opened their eyes.  Mattie stood between Mimi and Stavros, took each by the hand, and set off.  ''Suela followed along, almost completely overcome by shock.  A child not born in The City could speak "twin," or at least something very like it!  And Mimi could too.  However, with both her and Mattie, it felt different somehow.  For one, it was harder to "speak," and it was definitely somewhat slower.  She was concentrating so much that she ran into Stavros'' back when they arrived.


    Lifting her head, her first thought was: "What a dump!"  Looking closely, ''Suela wondered how it was still standing.  It was two stories talll, all of wood, such as it was, with most of the wood looking to be rotted to varying degrees.


    Mattie tugged on their hands.  "Come on.  It''s OK.  Everyone should be here."


    They had to turn sideways to fit through the "door."  It was gloomy inside, but there was still some daylight streaming in through a number of holes in the wall to the west.  It looked as it might have been a stable at one time as there was no upper floor other than an area at the far end of the building that might have been a storage area for hay.


    "Ere now, what''s this?  Didn''t I ''tole you not to bring anyone here ''lessen you got mah permission?"


    The gruff voice was followed out of one of the former stalls by a humanoid figure.  It was nearly two meters tall, and seemed to be over a meter wide as well.  It was scowling and chewing on something at the same time and looked to be about 17 or 18 years old.


    "Look you, this''s mah territory and you gots to pay iffen you wants to come here."


    He smirked at Mimi and the twins.  "Wal, I guess it''s that ya gots to pay iffen you wants to leave."


    There were two other older children directly behind him, not nearly as tall or wide, but the twins privately agreed that they looked meaner.


    Mimi, being Mimi, ignored him and walked to the center of the open area and raised her voice.  "I came to pick up Mattie and her wing.  Any of you others who wish to leave may come with us.  Nobody will try to stop you from leaving, nor will they harm you in any way after you leave.  I guarantee that there are new homes, real homes, waiting for every one of you if you do decide to come.


    "Of course you want to know where you''ll be going, so rather than tell you, It''ll be easier if I just show you."


    Mimi stepped into one of the light beams hitting the floor and stretched her arms out in front of her, palms up, and raised them to the height of her shoulders.  She closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath.


    The light beam began to lift off the floor and bent sideways until it stopped about half a meter in front of Mimi''s face.  Then it widened till it formed a circle a meter across.  It began to pulsate and flicker.  After 10 seconds or so, an image of The City had formed.  The view was from what must have been at least 2,000 meters in the air, as one could see a large part of the city and a bit of the surrounding countryside.


    "This is The City of the Bells.  The three of us live there.  If you come, we promise good homes, that you will live with people who will care for and about you, and that you will all be able to go to school or learn whatever trade you may be interested in."


    She dropped her arms. "That tires me out, so I can''t show you any more."


    She took a few deep breaths and declared, "All who want to come along with Mattie and her wing, please come forward.  It''s getting late and I want to get all of you settled in the inn before it gets dark."


    As Mimi had been speaking, a surprisingly large number of faces had peeked out from various locations and corners on both levels of the stable.  Some had big smiles, and some looked uncertain, but all were staring at the hulk who had now recovered his composure and stalked over to Mimi.


    "Now lookee here you!  Where da ya get off coming here and saying wot''s wot.  I ''tol you afore that this''s mah place.  Nobody leaves without my say-so, and I ain''t lettin any ''o them go.  They does what I says and that''s that!"


    Mimi turned to him, grabbed the front of his leather vest and hoisted him into the air, holding him over her head.  Everyone, incli\uding the twins, blinked several times to be sure that they were seeing what they thought they were.


    Yep.  The hulk was fussing and cussing, but he also wasn''t moving an inch.  Mimi''s arm might as well have been a steel rod sunk into the floor.


    She looked up at him, and her face was a thunderstorm.  "Up until now, you hadn''t given me any reason to kill you.  Now you have a cholce.  Kidnapping and/or confining children against their will in this part of France is considered slavery.  Those engaging in the slave trade, if caught, are looking at a death sentence."


    She sighed.  "I do hate getting blood on my uniform.  It''s very hard to wash out."


    Smiling up at him she drawled, "I suppose, that if you were to change your mind, I wouldn''t have to kill you, seeing as you no longer would be involved in slave trading.  But, if you''d rather assert your dominance and insist that these little ones belong to you, well, while it is hard to wash out the blood, it''s not that I don''t know how to do it."


    She shook him a little and smiled sweetly.  "Come on now, make your choice.  I have other things to do today, and if I have to kill you, I''ll need to adjust my plans."


    Shiv, for that''s what Mattie told them later was the name he went by, though his real name was Giles, shook his head and made a vague waving motion toward the door.


    Mimi dropped him.  "Well that''s settled, and peaceably too.  Oh well.  Maybe another time."


    She looked up and let her true smile fill the space.  "All of you who want to leave, please join Stavros and Consuela over by the door.  Then we''ll arrange for proper rooms and meals for you all at the inn."


    At the mention of food, a few children who were still wavering lifted their heads like a foxhound catching the scent of a fox.  There was a sudden rush to the door.  When Mimi decided that no more were coming, she waved the twins outside.  While they were filing out she looked down at Shiv.  "Well, how about that.  There are still a few who''re staying with you."


    She gestured at the five who were behind him.  "Live your lives as you choose, but, if I hear of you getting involved in blackmail, extortion, or kidnapping ever again, I''ll come pay you a visit.  Do we understand each other?"


    Shiv nodded numbly, his mind still not quite able to comprehend what just happened.


    Mimi helped him to his feet and patted him on his cheek.  "Good boy."


    She followed the others outside and gestured for the twins to lead the way.


    Seeing their puzzled faces she said, "The one where Eugenia and Mario are staying of course.  Get moving, but stop outside when we get there."


    They got.  Mimi followed along, weaving from side to side like someone herding geese, making sure that there were no stragglers.


    Once they arrived, Mimi walked through the crowd of little ones (probably from about six to 12 years old as best she could tell), entered the inn, and walked over to the owner. "I need rooms for 16 children for two days, maybe three, proper meals, and baths.  I may also need one of your staff to run out and buy appropriate clothing for travelling...tomorrow will do."


    The innkeeper, a woman of about age 45 glared at Mimi and then at the children.  "I don''t like stupid jokes, especially when I''m tired.  Now you get these street rats out of my place!  I don''t have time for this and...uh...."


    Her tirade stopped when she espied the last two children to enter, who were just in front of Consuela and Stavros.  They had the appearance of twins.  They were girls with fairly long, very dirty, pale blonde hair and were about nine years old.


    They had flinched when they heard the innkeeper begin her rant, but then lifted their heads and stared at her for a few seconds.  They slowly edged forward.  "Grandmama?  Is it you, truly?"


    The innkeeper had stopped her rant with her mouth half open.  "Ingrid?  Francine?  You''re alive!?"


    The girls ran forward, the inkeep ran forward, and they collided near the middle of the room.  There were hugs and tears and much pulling back and looking at each other''s faces.  Then the hugs and crying resumed.


    Mimi murmured, "I guess we need to make that rooms for 14 instead of 16."


    All the children had drawn back, some prepared to flee, when the innkeeper had begun to shout, but now all of them came forward.  It wasn''t their family, but, somehow, seeing the girls reunited with their grandmother reassured all of the others that they weren''t dreaming and, more importantly to them, that they weren''t leaping from the frying pan into the fire.  They''d wanted to trust Mimi, fervently, but none of them had had anything but a difficult life the past few years, and trusting anyone besides each other still came hard.


    Finally the innkeeper surfaced and walked over to Mimi, leading her twins by the hand.  "You need rooms for 14 children, yes?  I''ll apologize and explain later if you don''t mind ma''am?"


    Mimi nodded.


    "Thank you.  None of the rooms on the third floor are in use right now.  They''re all yours.  Sort yourselves out as you see fit.  I''ll see about getting the baths ready, but I have no idea about what to put them in afterwards.  The ''clothes'' they''re wearing really need to go into the rubbish."


    "Not to worry Madame Lefevre.  I''ll arrange something, at least temporarily.  More importantly...," Mimi raised her voice a bit to make sure that all the children could hear her, "Do you think you''ll be able to feed so many extra mouths in, oh, say two hours?"


    Mme. Lefevre laughed.  "This is an inn in a city that can be swamped with pilgrims with no notice.  I can handle as many as 40 extra mouths and have their food ready in an hour.  And so I shall, if..."  She looked over at the children.  "If these little ones have properly finished their baths by then."


    She was met by vigorous nodding.  They''d do anything if it meant being fed a decent meal.


    Turning to her granddaughters she smiled down at them.  "For now, you run along with your friends so you can get cleaned up too.  We''ll talk later, after everyone is settled, OK?"


    They grabbed her and hugged her again, hard, then nodded and joined the rest in following Mimi upstairs, with Stavros and Consuela now following at the end of the group.


    As they were walking Mimi was dispensing instructions, "All right you two, it''s time to earn your keep.  Blink yourselves home and tell your mother that I need all the old clothes she''s packed away that have been outgrown and will fit a child from about five to 15 or so.  I also want you to bring anything of yours you can find that you''d wear when you play with your friends.  Three of the children look to be about your size.


    "Once she stops asking you questions you can''t answer, tell her that I told you to do it NOW and that I said that I''ll explain everything when I get home.  That should calm her down enough that she''ll do as you''ve asked.  Then you get  Ailin.  You two aren''t strong enough yet to carry that much dead weight with you.  Besides, dealing with just the two of you sometimes drives me to distraction.  I''m not sure about my sanity if I have to handle 14 without Ailin''s help."


    ''Suela and Stav grinned at her, ducked into the nearest empty room and blinked home.  Once everything was settled in Metz tonight, they''d have a ball telling everyone about it.  Then, in the morning,  they''d go talk to O''Malley.  Almost half of the children felt ''Other''.


    As they raced upstairs to talk to their mother they agreed that today was likely to be one that they remembered for the rest of their lives.

 Vol 3 - Ch 19 Overwhelmed

    As expected, Miranda was more than a little displeased when they charged into her office.  They''d missed dinner entirely, they hadn''t knocked, and she was furious.  She wanted an explanation immediately.  She got exactly what she asked for, but what she heard astonished her and quenched her fury.


    When they got to the part about Mimi telling them what to do, and that they were to do it NOW, or else, Miranda reluctantly relaxed.  She summoned Sven, and they began hauling trunks out of storage.  By the time they were finished, Ailin had arrived and was overseeing the sorting.  Now that Miranda was no longer involved in the activities, she found herself becoming excited.  This HAD to be something related to what Priss "saw."


    When she became conscious of her surroundings again, she looked up and found herself alone with Sven, the others having blinked back to Metz.  She didn''t really need to do it immediately, but she was excited enough that, just this once, she would forget about the "proper order for such things."


    She dashed out the door, in a dignified manner of course, and hurried herself over to see Blair.  It was likely that Ailin hadn''t had time to explain what was going on, so Miranda felt it was her duty to enlighten her.


    As she was briskly walking along, she examined the thought.  Yes, it should hold up under even a detailed examination of her motive, which, knowing Blair, certainly might happen.  Unlike the twins -- who took great pleasure in telling stories -- she didn''t want to explain things twice, and had sent Sven to the Fukui''s to summon Akane.  She''d definitely be interested in the goings-on.  She almost rubbed her hands together in glee, but that wasn''t appropriate for a public place, so she decided to forgo the pleasure.


    Once both she and Akane were at the Macklin''s, the three of them adjourned to Blair''s office, where Miranda explained what she knew.  Unlike the twins, she had already put these particular puzzle pieces together.  They were too busy supervising the baths of the other children to turn their minds on yet.


    Miranda had arrived at the only possible conclusion.  She reminded the others that Priss had said that Mario and Genie were not to sell the extra 11 horses and to buy three more.  Adding in the fact that, after subtracting the inkeepers twin granddaughters, there were 14 children who were orphaned or abandoned, the conclusion was self-evident.  The City was about to acquire 14 new citizens.


    Blair nodded her understanding.  "Yes. Now let''s see.  It will probably take them about five or six weeks to arrive, assuming that at least some of the children are not experienced riders, nor are they likely to have any skill at ''camping out''.  I expect that we''ll find out the exact date once they''re within a few days of arriving.


    "Either way, there should be plenty of time to determine which of them will need to be housed together, which will be comfortable apart from the others, and to find them temporary quarters."


    "Agreed Blair."  Akane smiled at her.  "There''s no reason to begin even preliminary planning until Mimi or Ailin tell us what they''re up to."


    She held up her hand to restrain the others'' responses.  "Yes, I know we all pretend that we don''t know, but those two are playing some very deep game beyond what they''ve let us see so far.  It''s likely that, after the immediate situation is resolved, both of them will be dropping several hints for you two to puzzle out.  Once they do, I propose that we schedule an extended meeting, before the children arrive, to discuss just what each of you has figured out so far.  It''s likely that you each have some of the ''pieces of the puzzle'' that the other doesn''t."


    She grinned at the surprise on both their faces, then did a dramatic facepalm while at the same time shaking her head.  "You never compared notes, did you?"


    Lifting her face, and seeing their stunned expressions as they looked at each other, Akane let go with a very unladylike belly-laugh.  They were alone, so no one else was likely to hear.  Sometimes you just had to let it out.


    "Well, that''s enough for today.  I still have things to do before Rebecca goes to bed.  You''ll be contacting me tomorrow or the day after to fill me in on what you find out, yes?"


    They nodded.  She smiled again and headed home.  This was going to be FUN!


    -----------------


    Stavros and Consulea were, as Miranda had expected, far to busy to think about anything other than that old saying about how hard it is to herd cats.  They hadn''t expected to find baths like those at home attached to the inn, but both the women''s and men''s sides could easily handle 20 people.  Getting the other kids out of their clothes was itself quite a task, as almost none had ever been naked in front of anyone besides their family members before, and not at all for at least the past two years.  Finally Stav and ''Suela separately came to the same conclusion and stripped to show the others how things were to be done.  Eventually they had the others lined up on the various stools and benches and got started with washing hair.  ''Suela was lucky in that two of the girls were near her age, one 12 and the other 14.  The younger had shed her things with a great sigh of relief.


    "I thought I''d never be able to stand up straight again!"


    Seeing ''Suela''s puzzled stare, she explained. "If you bend forward, you look shorter, and thus younger.  Also nobody can notice that you have breasts.  I didn''t trust those people at Giles'' place as far as I could throw them.  Not that I''d try.  Their stench was abominable."


    The 14 year old just nodded slightly and got on with business.


    ''Suela noticed that the first girl was dealing with the little ones like an expert and said so.


    The girl, who volunteered "Heidi" as her name smiled.  "I''d originally wanted to be a teacher when I grew up."


    She turned to ''Suela with hope and fear in her eyes, at the same time continuing with washing the hair of the little one in front of her. "Your Mimi said that we could go to school when we get to your city.  Do you think that, maybe, I still might be able to after we get to where you live?"


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.    ''Suela nodded.  "I can''t see why not.  My sister-in-law is the Librarian In Charge of the two largest libraries in The CIty.  If anyone knows how to get you caught up with your education, she will."


    Heidi smiled widely and turned back to the task at hand.  Given the steam and water everywhere, only ''Suela and the older girl noticed the happy tears coursing down her cheeks.  They too were still washing hair and turned toward each other.  The older girl finally introduced herself, "I''m Brigid."


    ''Suela nodded.  "Consuela, but call me ''Suela.  All my friends do."


    Brigid nodded back and resumed washing the hair of the girl in front of her.  It looked as if Brigid wasn''t ready to talk about anything yet, and ''Suela wasn''t about to prod what might be a raw wound, or perhaps even several.


    After they''d rinsed off the last of the little ones and sent them to soak for a few minutes, Brigid turned to ''Suela, "So, you sister-in-law is a librarian.  What does your brother do?"


    "Oh.  He''s a priest.  My older sister is here at the inn with her husband.  They''re Eugenia and Mario.  They''re selling books and doing something at one of the banks here, though I don''t know what exactly.


    "Whatever it is, they''re probably going to have changed their plans by morning since they''re the ones who will be leading you back to The City."


    ''Suela had been washing Brigid''s hair while they were talking. "There, all done.  Lets get a good soak in, at least for a few minutes before we eat.  It may not be as good as at home, as there''s no healing spring water here, but it oughta feel pretty good anyway."


    Brigid filed that last bit away for future consideration.  She had no idea what a "healing spring" was, but from the way ''Suela talked about it, it seemed to be something that many people had access to.  If so, then whoever ran this city of hers must not be all that power hungry.  If they were, access to such a thing as a spring that heals would be heavily restricted.


    Their new situation promised to be much better than what they had just left, but a great deal more information was needed before she could draw any solid conclusions.   First-in scouts learned early on not to jump at the first answer that presented itself.  If they did, it could be disastrous when the rest of the team arrived.  There would be ample time to compare notes with the other four before making their report to Mattie.  It would probably be a decade yet before she would able manifest her full personality, but nobody sends in their commander before the scouts have made their preliminary survey, so they''d be busy while they waited however many years it took for Mattie to grow up.


    The village they''d chosen to be born in was about an hour off the main road, but reasonably prosperous.  In other words, a good place to base out of as they got a feeling for the lay of the land.  What they hadn''t counted on, and could not have expected no matter how thorough their planning, was being raided by such a large group of bandits.


    They''d killed all the adults and stolen everything of value.  They left the children to cope as they would with the ruination of their lives.  After a few days, Brigid and her team had managed to get the others to abandon the village and head toward Metz.


    Once they arrived, they found nobody willing to help nine orphaned children.  Even the churches turned them away, being too busy catering to the "pilgrims" and their relatively fat wallets.  Settling in with Giles and the 12 kids already living there had been their only option, albeit one that was only slightly better than living on the streets.


    She shivered at the memory.  At least he''d never abused any of them in any way, other than verbally.  For that she was grateful.  She had no idea what they''d all have done if she''d had to kill him.


    ''Suela''s voice roused her from her reverie, "Brigid, are you cold?  You''re shaking."


    She turned to ''Suela and shook her head "no."


    ''Suela cocked her head to the side.  "You don''t talk much, do you?  Don''t mind about that.  One of our friends has an older sister who rarely says more than 20 words in an entire day."


    Seeing Brigid''s surprise, ''Suela hastened to add, "It''s absolutely true!  How she manages to work as a doctor when she almost never talks is something I don''t understand at all."


    She frowned slightly as she thought about it.  "Maybe it''s because she''s so good.  I didn''t hear all the details, but she healed Mario last summer when everyone thought he was going to die."


    ''Suela nodded to herself and stood.  "Well enough of that.  Let''s get the others, and ourselves, dried, dressed, and then get something to eat."


    She got out of the tub and turned to the rest.  "All right everyone.  Playtime is over so stop splashing.  You need to get out, properly dried, and dressed before you can eat."


    Putting her hands on her hips, she leaned forward.  "You DO want to eat, don''t you?"


    Moments later the bath was empty and the ten girls were doing their best to dress -- and not having a great deal of luck.  It seemed that clothing in The City was made a bit differently from what they were used to and they were finding it hard to put on.


    ''Suela hastened to help them before anyone tore out a seam from pulling too hard.  She hoped that Stav was having better luck with his six.  By long habit they didn''t speak "twin" when they were bathing with others, feeling that it was somehow invading their privacy.  It wasn''t exactly rational behavior, but that''s how they felt, so that''s what they did.


    -----------------------


    The children sat relatively quietly at the long tables in the dining area.  If they were disappointed at the small portions they were given, none said a word about it.  It was more than they usually had, and it was hot rather than cold.


    Madame Lefevre smiled at their expressions of disappointment.  "Now don''t you all get your knickers in a knot.  I have no idea how well you''ve eaten in the past, or how much you''re used to, and I don''t want to overload your stomachs.  So you eat what you have, slowly mind you.  If it all stays down, you may have more after half an hour.  If any of you start to feel sick to your stomachs, go out that door next to the kitchen.  If you throw up in here, I''ll be unhappy, and you don''t want me unhappy.  Trust me on that."


    Her ferocious look morphed into a big smile.  "Well, what are you waiting for?  Dig in."


    Genie and Mario appeared about half way through the meal.  At first they paid no attention to the children.  However they were only a few steps inside the inn when Genie pulled up short and grabbed Mario''s sleeve.


    Before he could speak, she hissed, "Mimi and Ailin are sitting with those children," after which she buried her face in Mario''s chest and muttered, "I hate things like this.  I don''t do sudden changes very well.  Tell me that there aren''t 14 children there."


    Mario did a quick count. "No Love, there are 16, not counting Stavros and Consela."


    Genie shuddered. "They''re here too?  That''s even worse....  Give me a moment."


    She took several deep breaths, straightened, then turned around to face reality.  She strode to Mimi and waited.


    Mimi looked up and smiled, then turned to the children.  "Be silent a moment, all of you."


    Shortly there was no sound other than their breathing, though there was a hint of someone''s being a bit ragged.  Mimi shrugged.  Probably just the acoustics.


    "Children, these two are Mario and Eugenia Brown.  They''ll be escorting you to The City.  You''ll be leaving the day after tomorrow.  We''ll have to wait till then as they have business to wrap up tomorrow afternoon, and we''ll also need time to buy some traveling clothes for the 14 of you who will be leaving with them."


    Genie stared at Mimi who looked back, unblinking, with a neutral expression.  After some time, Genie smiled.  "All right. I give."


    She turned her face to the room and raised her voice so as to be heard clearly, "As you have just heard.  Mario and I, as well as two of our friends, will help you reach The City.  We''ll discuss the details with you starting in the morning, and then again after we finish our business in the afternoon."


    She waved in the direction of the kitchen.  "For now, we need to eat too.  We''ll check on you before we go to bed."

 Vol 3 - Ch 20 Disaster?

    After eating, Ingrid and Francine were shepherded into their grandmother''s rooms.  The rest went upstairs to more thoroughly explore what was, for some, their first ever experience with a real bed rather than what was, at best, straw stuffed between two layers of cloth.  It was barely 8 p.m., but being warm, clean, and joyfully full of food resulted in generalized sleepiness.


    Brigid roomed with Mattie.  The four boys with them took the two rooms to either side of the girls''.  Everyone else settled down in pairs or fours.


    Mimi decided that it was about time to leave.  She''d told the children that she''d be back the next day and had almost made it out the door when Mattie stopped her.


    "Something''s wrong with Heidi.  She''s sweating, and she''s cold and hot at the same time.  Please come see her Miss Mimi."


    Mimi turned around and flowed past Mattie, whispering, "Just ''Mimi'' is fine."


    She found Heidi sitting in a chair, bent over and holding her head.  Mimi felt her neck, poked here and there, then laid her ear on Heidi''s chest.  Unfortunately what she''d heard downstairs had been real.  She probably had pneumonia.  It looked to be in the early stages, but there was no possibility of her leaving with the rest in two days, assuming that she survived.


    She looked around and saw seven expectant faces.  All of the girls had gathered by the door to watch.  Mimi sighed.  She''d need to make some major changes in her plans, and it had to be immediately.  She hated doing things without a reasonable warning.


    Ailin appeared.  Mimi had called the twins at the same time, and they arrived shortly thereafter.


    "Stavros, you stand outside and make sure none of the boys try to enter."


    She turned to Ailin.  A few seconds later she nodded and blinked out.  She had people to fetch to the Donetti home.


    Seeing Ailin disappear prompted several of the girls to pull back, some came forward, and two just stood there watching.


    Mimi answered their unasked question.  "What you just saw is called ''blinking''.  It''s a magic talent like many others, just not as common."


    She waved her hand vaguely.  "Yes, I know, mages aren''t common here, or at least they don''t let it be known.  Almost everyone in The City has some degree of talent, though mostly of a very minor sort."


    She made a show of looking at each of the girls.  "You''re all still young enough.  It''s possible that some, or all of you, might also develop magic gifts after you''ve lived in The City for a year or three."  Good, they were all thinking and weren''t showing fear any more.  Now for the hard part.


    "Heidi is sick, and if we leave her here it''s going to get worse."


    Heidi raised a stricken face and wailed, "Am I going to die?  It''s not fair.  I''ve barely started my life.  I haven''t done anything yet!"


    Mimi patted her head.  "Silly girl...then again, maybe not.  None of you are aware of how well we can heal things in The City.  Which brings up the problem at hand.  I''m sure you can see what it is.  Heidi needs healing we can only get for her in The City.  She''s too ill to travel, so it seems like we can''t take care of her.  BUT...there is a way!"


    Excellent.  They were all focused on their friend.  Aldus was right.  Being able to tell a good story could be extremely useful at times.


    "What we have to do is get her to The City tonight.  Yes, it can be done, but it''s going to mean that I won''t see you again until you arrive.


    She held up her hand.  "No questions right now if you please.  Instead I want you to listen, carefully.  You all just saw Ailin blink away.  She went to The City to summon a doctor to ''Suela and Stavros'' home.


    "Before I tell you any more, you need to promise me something, and it''s a promise that must last the rest of your lives.  It''s that important.  It''s about those magic talents I mentioned.  Girls sometimes have one that is much stronger than a boy''s.  Both boys and girls can carry things when they blink, but not very much at a time, though boys can carry more total weight because they''re stronger.


    "But they can''t carry living things with them.  Only girls can do that.  That''s the secret part that we don''t want anyone else to know.  When you''re older I''ll tell you more about it."


    She smiled as she saw three girls clap their hands over their mouths and their eyes widen.


    "Yes, that''s right.  I can take Heidi to The City with me.  There''s a problem of sorts though.  The more you carry, the harder it is, just like when you pick up a stone.  Bigger ones are harder to pick up, right?  A big stone also makes you more and more tired the further you have to carry it.


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    "And that''s our problem.  I''m going to be so tired after taking Heidi to The City, that I won''t be able to come back before you leave.  Don''t worry though.  Ailin will be back tomorrow, and both ''Suela and Stavros will come by in the morning and will stay until you leave on Sunday."


    She stood and took a deep breath.  This was not going to be hard.  It would be horrifically difficult.   For most, even of her species, it would be impossible.  Fortunately she was one of the triple handful known who could accomplish the task, though she wouldn''t just be tired for a day or two as she had implied.  She''d likely be unable to walk unaided for at least a week, possibly two.


    There was a smothered gasp behind her.  She turned and saw ''Suela with a wild-eyed expression full of fear.  Mimi was going to have to be more careful about shielding her thoughts in the future.  That child was growing faster than expected.


    Mimi smiled at her.  "No problem little one.  I promise that it will all come out well in the end, and you know that I never, ever tell lies."


    ''Suela nodded tentatively then gave Mimi a fragile but hopeful smile.


    Turning to the other children she continued, "As I said, the more I carry, the harder it will be, so I''ll need to leave carrying Heidi''s and my clothes to ''Suela."


    She turned her head toward Brigid.  "If you will please help Heidi undress?"


    Brigid nodded, and Mimi began to disrobe.


    "''Suela, I''ll be targeting your largest bathing room.  I want you to go first and make sure that some robes are there for us when we arrive so we can bundle up afterwards."  She handed both sets of clothes to ''Suela who immediately blinked away.


    There was a knock on the door, followed by Ailin''s velvety voice.  "All four will be there within 10 minutes.  I shall remain here untill the children are settled down for the night."


    Mimi nodded to herself.  Time to be about it.


    She sat on the edge of the bed.  "Brigid dear, help Heidi stand please.  I need her to sit on my lap.  Yes, that''s right, sideways.  Now Heidi, lay the side of your head on my chest and wrap your arms around me as far as they will go."


    Once Heidi was in position, Mimi wrapped her arms around Heidi as well, then bent her head forward and laid her cheek on the top of Heidi''s head.  This worked best with as much body contact as possible.  "Here we go.  Hold on tight."


    She blinked and found herself utterly surprised when she was caught by Sara and Miranda as she collapsed.  When she''d looked ahead, she''d only scanned a meter around where she intended to arrive and had not seen them standing by the wall.  ''Suela grabbed Heidi so she also wouldn''t hit anything as they fell.  She''d already stripped and immediately led Heidi over to the bath.


    Heidi was more than a little wild-eyed as she watched Sara and Miranda help Mimi to the bath, with Sara slipping in to help her as ''Suela was doing for Heidi.  However, Sara was also keeping Mimi from sliding under water as she was unable to sit up by herself.


    Miranda smiled broadly at Heidi.  "Welcome to The City of The Bells child.  Have no fear, we are most happy that you are here with us.  The others should be here shortly."


    Heidi grabbed ''Suela''s hand and squeezed tightly after which she turned and buried her face in ''Suela''s chest. Then she wailed, "More people?  I can''t handle more people.  Please, just leave me be for a while!"


    The child''s breathing, though a bit raspy, wasn''t awful, and Sara looked to have Mimi under control.  Mimi''s breathing wasn''t compromised either so Miranda did some rapid revision of their plans.


    "Your name is Heidi, correct?  Well Heidi, I understand completely.  I''ll leave and make sure that you don''t have to meet anyone else for at least half an hour.  Then we''ll see how thing are going.  Will that be OK?"


    Seeing a faint nod, Manda left and closed the door behind her, after which she stood guard.  Well, that''s what she told everyone later.  What she really did was put her ear to the door so she could hear what was going on inside.


    After Miranda left, Heidi lifted her head and scanned the room, especially the corners, to make sure that nobody else was going to surprise her.  Eventually her eyes found themselves focused on Sara, who had a pleasant and, truth be told, compassionate smile on her face.


    "I haven''t heard much of your story yet, but ''Suela told me just a little  before you arrived.  Am I correct in understanding that you want to be a teacher?"


    Seeing Heidi''s shy nod, Sara resumed, "I''m ''Suela''s sister, Sara.  I''m the Librarian In Charge at what we call the Little Cathedral and the Cathedral of Whispers.  What they are you''ll learn later when you feel better.  For now I want you to understand one important thing.  My job is to help people learn things, so if you want to learn how to be a teacher, I''ll be helping you all the way."


    She smiled again.  "That''s enough for tonight.  We can talk about the rest later, OK?"


    Heidi nodded more vigorously and finally was able to scrounge up a smile of her own.  It was a bit forced, but it was real.  Maybe this was all going to work out after all.


    Miranda nodded to herself and straightened.  There likely wasn''t going to be much else interesting to hear, and she didn''t want Kaho, Jason, and the twins to see her listening at the door when they arrived.


    About five minutes later there was a knock at the front door, which was answered by Sven, who ushered in the aforementioned quartet.  Manda met them and took them to the family parlor, where she explained what had happened so far.


    Kaho nodded several times.  "Understood.  Easily fixed, assuming it really is early pneumonia.  As for Mimi...let me think a while."


    Everyone sat, without speaking, while she pondered.  Even Miranda had learned by then that trying to hurry Kaho was like trying to stop an avalanche.  All you could do in either case was wait for the outcome.


    Ten minutes later Kaho gently pounded her left fist into her right palm.  "Yes, that should work.  This is what we''ll do.  First we''ll get this Heidi child out of the bath and into a warm robe.  Then Yoko can feed me while I work on her.  We shouldn''t need anything more than that if it really is just an early infection.


    "Once we''ve begun, Biki and Sara will get Mimi out of the bath, get a robe on her, and lay her down on the floor.  Then Jason can come in.  I want Biki holding Mimi''s hands, and Jason, you''ll put your hands on Biki''s shoulders.  You two feed her however much energy you can without getting light-headed.


    "Then we get both of them to eat whatever they can tolerate and put them to bed."


    She looked at Miranda for approval.  Seeing it she finished with, "The four of us will return tomorrow at...will 10 a.m. be acceptable?"


    Miranda nodded.   Kaho settled back, and it was clear that she wouldn''t speak further.

 Vol 3 - Ch 21 Sisters?!

    While they were waiting, the trio gently prodded Miranda for details.  They knew almost nothing except the tale of Mimi''s extraordinary action.  Even though she was unusually, oh, "approachable" was a good word, Miranda had little to say as she herself didn''t know much yet.


    Finally they all realized that the only way to get the answers they craved was to get Mimi functional again so she could tell them what had  happened.


    (They were wrong of course.  Stavros and Consuela knew almost everything that Mimi knew, and some things she didn''t, as they were the ones who had talked to the children while they were bathing.  That error would be painfully corrected in the next two days as the others realized how stupid they''d been to discount the children as a source of information, especially Miranda, as she regularly collected intelligence from children in The City.)


    When it was time, they trooped to the door of the bathing room.  Yoko knocked, "It''s Yoko and Kaho.  May we come in please?"


    ''Suela looked at Heidi who, thankfully, was much more relaxed.  She nodded, and ''Suela answered, "Come on in."


    Yoko was first in.  Heidi saw a somewhat oddly featured but still attractive young woman, who was probably in her teens, though she was rather small.  She was followed by a woman who surely had a tree somewhere in her ancestry.  Heidi had never even heard of someone so tall.


    Fortunately the tall one had a truly friendly smile on her face and Heidi couldn''t help but respond in kind.  The small one, Yoko, was also smiling.  "It''s time to get you out of there and get that nasty illness taken care of.  Are you ready?"


    Heidi was long past ready to not feel so bad, and she nodded several times.


    Yoko and ''Suela got her up, dried off, and wrapped in a robe, after which Yoko made introductions.


    "I''m Yoko Fukui and this giantess here is my sister-in-law, Dr. Kaho Fukui.  We''re going to fix you up, so if you''ll just sit on this stool here..."


    Yoko led her to the side of the room and had Heidi sit with her back to the door so she wouldn''t see Biki and Jason when they entered.


    "We''re going to need your shoulders bare, so just slip the robe down a bit.  Yes...that''s fine.  Now Dr. Fukui will put her hands on your shoulders from the front and I''ll put my hands on hers from the back.  All you need to do is close your eyes and relax, OK?"


    Having never met a doctor, nor even seen one from a distance, Heidi presumed that this was normal, so she complied without questioning the proceedings.


    Once Kaho and Yoko had begun, Biki entered.  She, ''Suela, and Sara got Mimi up and into a robe.  Next, as per the plan, they laid her down on the floor.  Jason entered, then he and Biki set up.  From that point on, there was silence in the room except for the faint sound of breathing.


    Sara, who had never seen a healing session before, stood in a corner with her eyes darting back and forth from one trio to the other.  How exciting!  It was unfortunate that she couldn''t publish any of this, but knowing that she was one of the few people in the world who had ever seen such a thing was intensely satisfying.


    Both groups finished at the same time.  Kaho looked at Yoko and nodded.  Complete eradication of the invaders accomplished.  She looked over to Jason who raised his right hand and rocked it in a "so-so" motion.  Kaho nodded.  That was better than she''d hoped for given how badly Mimi had abused her mind and body.  Even so she couldn''t fault her actions.  A life was saved.  Being worn out for a week or so was a small price to pay.


    After that, Miranda, who''d snuck into the room, backed out and ran into Sven who was behind her.  She snorted.  He was just as curious about things as she was.  Were he not so busy managing the family''s affairs, she''d have recruited him in an instant.


    As it was, "Sven, I think a light meal is in order, for six..."


    ''Suela raised her hand and Miranda amended it to, "Make that for seven.  In the kitchen I think.  The dining room might overwhelm our guest."


    ''Suela smiled her thanks and walked to Heidi to help her to her feet.


    "We''re all tired, but before we go to bed, we should probably get something to eat, don''t you think?"


    Heidi surprised herself by nodding.  For the first time in several days she was hungry.  She''d only pretended to eat when they were at the Peddlar.


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    "Heidi, while Yoko and Kaho were helping you, Yoko''s sister Hibiki and their husband Jason were helping Mimi.  They''re behind you and would like to say hello, if that''s OK?"


    (Once the trio had been married for a year, it was felt to be safe for Consuela and Stavros to know about it.  They''d, publicly at least, accepted the reasoning behind their not being told at the time of the wedding.  Since then, they''d taken extra special care not to talk about it, except when they were alone, and even then only in twin.  They reasoned that if they worked hard enough at behaving in a mature manner, they might hear all sorts of interesting things from the older family members in the future.)


    Heidi nodded and slowly turned around.  She saw a girl who looked remarkably like Yoko, obviously her twin.  The young man/boy was smiling in a friendly manner as he held Hibiki''s hand.  Then it struck her.  "Their husband?"  Was he married to both of them?  How odd, but also how interesting.  Once she got settled in, there was going to be so much to learn!


    Her musings were interrupted by her stomach rumbling.  Yoko took her hand and pulled gently.  "I''m hungry and I ''spect that you are too.  Let''s go find somethin'' ta eat."


    So saying she gently pulled Heidi down the hall and into the kitchen, where they watched Cook moving rapidly about.  While they waited, Sara came in and sat next to Heidi.  To her surprise, Heidi found herself leaning against Sara, closing her eyes, and enjoying the sensation of being cuddled up to someone who cared about her.  How she knew that, she couldn''t say, but she knew it was true.  Finally, even though everything was strange and new, she felt at home for the first time in nearly three years.


    The sounds of the cook bustling around the kitchen somehow sounded familiar.  So familar that she found herself nearly asleep and starting to dream of her childhood.  Soon she was asleep in truth and began to slip backwards off the bench.  Fortunately Sara managed to throw her left around Heidi''s shoulders so as to keep her upright, which woke Heidi partially.


    Heidi still had her eyes closed, but she wrapped her arms around Sara and whispered, "I''m sorry Mama.  I know I shouldn''t cry, but I''ve missed you so much!"


    Sara responded, "I''m sorry too little one.  I''m not your mother, but I''d be more than happy to be your big sister.if you''ll have me."


    Heidi''s eyes sprang open.  She looked up and saw Sara''s compassionate smile only a few centimeters from her, whereupon she threw her arms around Sara.  Feeling Sara''s loving embrace, she finally let go and cried all the lonely tears she''d been holding in the past three years.


    Cook mumbled, "I forgot something outside," and hurried through the door but not before everyone saw the tears on his cheeks.  After that there wasn''t a dry eye in the room.  Even Kaho, who had just entered after making sure that Mimi was properly tucked into her bed, was seen to be dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief.


    After a time, once everyone was more or less calm, Cook reappeared and presented a cold meal, there not having been time to  cook anything.  As there was some fragrant hot tea to accompany it, nobody objected.  Not that they would have anyway, as one needs an empty mouth to be able to speak intelligibly.


    Heidi was clearly much less tense than when she''d arrived, though, even while eating, she continued to lean against Sara.


    After they''d finished, Sara patted Heidi on the shoulder, "Wait here a bit, will you?"


    Heidi nodded, turned to ''Suela, and began to ask questions about The City.


    Sara looked at Miranda and gestured with her head toward the door.  They meandered out and went to the family parlor.


    Sara waited to speak, but Miranda made a "go ahead" gesture and said, "You first.  You''re the one she was glued to."


    Smiling her thanks, Sara said, "She''s resilient, smart, curious, has a loving heart, and there''s something generally appealing about her -- even if you don''t include the fact that she wants to be a teacher."


    Miranda drawled, "Which, of course, has nothing at all to do with your assessment."


    They grinned at each other after which Sara offered, "Your turn Mother."


    "Indeed.  I tend not to believe in coincidences, especially in this city and considering our, let''s call her our ''protector'' for the nonce.  Even so, I find it an interesting ''coincidence'' that ''Suela is the one who stayed in their bedroom and it was Stavros who moved into Genie''s old one after she and Mario married.  And what a ''coincidence'' that there''s still a second bed in the room that we''d been keeping there for no particular reason when normally it would have been moved into storage."


    She steepled her fingers.  "Just for once, and only this one time mind you, I think I shall not object to Blue''s machinations.  It''s a bit early to tell for sure, but my gut says that we''ve just figured out where one of those 14 children Mimi saved will find a permanent home."


    Sara smiled happily. "I concur.  And while we''re talking about things that are premature, I expect that in six years, when she''s 18 and finishes her secondary education, she may have more choices than she might expect.  She could train as a primary school teacher, as she plans, but there just might be a place for a, oh, let''s call it a ''children''s librarian'' at the cathedral''s new library about then."


    Miranda answered, "Interesting.  And when did the idea of creating such a position hit you?"


    "Oddly enough, about three weeks ago.  What with the funds and plans for the new building to merge the libraries having been approved, we''re now ready to start construction.  Archbishop Comfort and I figured that the construction, plus the moving and merging of the materials stored at each of the current libraries will take about five and a half years.  At that time, we''ll be ready to create the children''s position."


    "Sara, we know that she''s not had any schooling for at least two years, possibly longer.  Do you think she''ll be able to get caught up?"


    "With her living here, and with me tutoring her in her weak areas, and if she truly wants it enough to work for it, then the answer is ''yes''.  It is most definitely possible."


    Manda raised her head toward the ceiling.  "I guess you deserve a hug, but let''s not do it right now.  I don''t want Heidi to see you by accident and run out into the street screaming."


    "Spoilsport!"


    For once even Miranda had to clap her hands over her mouth to keep from laughing.

 Vol 3 - Ch 22 Preparations

    Saturday September 22 in The Year 725 After the Founding 06:20 a.m.


    Genie awoke to a soft but insistent knocking at their door.  She''d never been what you could call a ''morning person'' but she''d trained herself to get up no matter how much she wanted to sleep in.  When your life is on the road, you don''t have time to waste once it''s light enough to see where you''re going.


    She took herself to the door and opened it to find six children waiting.  They were all dressed neatly, though in clothes that fit none of them all that well.  In fact, she recognized what the older girl was wearing, as it had been hers until she''d outgrown it two years earlier.


    "To what do I owe this visit?"


    "I''m Brigid."  She pointed to the young girl beside her.  "I''m the coordinator for Mattie''s wing.  May we come in?  We need to discuss something in a place that isn''t so public."


    Genie stepped back and gestured them inside.  Mario was on his feet and looked disgustingly bright and cheerful as he asked, "And what is it that we can do for you?"


    Mattie walked to a chair and sat down as Brigid gestured to herself and the four boys, "In  addition to proper travelling clothes, we require weapons for our trip."


    Her statement was met by raised eyebrows and silence.  Mario gestured for her to continue.


    "First of all, this inn hosts many hundreds of pilgrims every year.  Banditry is rampant along and off the roads as few villages or pilgrims have the means to defend themselves."  An expression of profound sadness appeared as she added, "Which is why the six of us are in need of your help in the first place."


    Genie and Mario exchanged a quick glance.  So the children were all orphans.  Here was something else Mimi had neglected to tell them the night before.


    Brigid ignored their reaction and continued, "Such a large inn will, of necessity, have at least one spy feeding information to one or more local groups of bandits.  Such will likely have an intense interest in a group of 18 with only four adults to protect it."


    Seeing the adults nod, she added, "In a case such as this, deterrence is better than defeating the enemy in combat. There might be friendly casualties, and it is paramount that Mattie not be in danger of injury of any kind.


    "Thus we need appropriate weapons, preferably knives.  We should also arrange that the five of us spend some time ''practicing'' with training weapons today, where the spies here can easily see us."


    She stopped, assumed a ''parade rest'' position, and waited.  The boys assumed the same posture, two on each side of and slightly behind her.


    Mario and Genie again exchanged glances.  They couldn''t speak "twin," but there thoughts were identical.  Mimi hadn''t just slightly disrupted their plans.  She taken them, shredded them, and tossed them into a hurricane.


    Genie answered for them both, "Approved, provisionally.  First we have breakfast, then we''ll scrounge up some practice weapons and watch you spar.  IF we are satisfied that you know what you''re doing, we''ll arrange for the knives you requested."


    She smiled, and it was more predatory than friendly. "If you''re good enough, I think we''ll finish up by letting whomever of you is the best spar with me."


    This time it was Brigid who felt her eyebrow rise.  The information that they''d managed to accumulate since last night had revealed no more than what ''Suela had told them.  These people sold books and had some sort of connection to one of the big banks in town.  Such people rarely had any combat skills.  Brigid had assumed that their mercenary companions provided the minimal protection they needed, seeing as books were hard to sell quickly, were rather bulky, and difficult to move.  Bandits wanted small, hard to trace valuables that were easy to sell.  They''d normally let such people as these alone.  Now. however, they would be transporting a precious and highly valuable cargo -- the children.


    Brigid gestured her assent, and the six children left.


    Mario and Genie noticed that the two eldest boys went first and checked out the hallway, after which they nodded.  They were followed by Brigid and Mattie.  The two younger boys followed, obviously assuming the position of rear guards.


    Genie fell backwards onto the bed and buried her face in her hands.  "What in the name of all that''s Holy is going on?  Being saddled with all these children is bad enough, but those six....  It''s like that little one, what''s her name?  Oh, yes, Mattie.  It''s like she''s some sort of royalty and the others are her bodyguards."


    She lifted her head and shook it in negation, "And let''s not mention that her ''bodyguards'' are 14, 11, 10, and nine."


    Her voice rose in pitch to one that was nearly hysterical, "I don''t think I can deal with this.  I don''t want all this responsibility.  I only wanted to be with you and to travel.  I don''t need anything else!"


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    Mario gathered her in his arms and hugged her gently as he stroked her head.  "It''s going to be all right Love.  We''ll manage, though I''m bothered by it all too.  What with the children and the extra tents and supplies that we''ll have to carry, we won''t have room for any goods to sell on our return trip."


    Genie pulled back and her head snapped up.  She saw a patently false look of despair on Mario''s face.


    She pulled back her fist and whacked him in the arm.  "You beast!  If there''s any ''cargo'' in the entire world that''s more precious than a child, I''d like to know what it is!"


    Mario rubbed his arm where she''d hit him.  She was getting stronger. It had hurt this time.


    "See?  It wasn''t all that hard to straighten out your priorities, was it?  We''ll deal with this like everything else since we set out in June.  We''ll tackle every obstacle together.  When we do that, nothing, not even 14 children will be too much for us."


    Consuela''s voice manifested behind them, "Make that 13 children.  Heidi had pneumonia.   Mimi took her to The City last night so Kaho could treat her."


    They spun around so fast that they almost lost their balance. Their words followed each other so rapidly that ''Suela could barely separate them.


    "What do you mean Mimi took her to The City?!"


    "If she can do that, why in the world are we being saddled with taking the rest back with us."


    "Which one is, was, Heidi, and what was wrong with her?"


    "Are any of the others sick?"


    ''Suela wanted to laugh as how silly they looked but the situation was a bit too serious for that.  She''d save the laughter until she could be private with Stav and tell him about it.


    "Mimi isn''t taking the others because moving Heidi such a long way came close to killing her.  Kaho says that she will, probably, be able to walk again in 3-4 days, depending on how much energy Jason and the twins can spare without them collapsing too."


    She continued in the shocked silence, "As for Heidi, she''s 12 too, and she wants to be a teacher.  Kaho says that she''s cured her pneumonia, and all she needs now is a few days of rest and good food.  It''s sorta preliminary, but I think that we''re adopting her and she''ll share my room."


    ''Suela grinned wickedly.  "I really like her, and I already know that she''s smart enough that the two of us should be able to get into an extraordinary amount of mischief together."


    Genie didn''t, quite, faint, which was a good thing as Mario was also feeling rather light-headed.  They both sat down on the bed and put their heads between their knees.


    ''Suela walked over and patted them on the shoulders.  "It''s going to be all right.  I was there for the whole thing, but, even so, I can hardly believe it myself.  If you just sorta let it settle around you, you get a bit numb, and then it isn''t so hard to deal with."


    Neither of them had even the slightest idea of what ''Suela meant, but they were able to start thinking again.  They stood and made for the door.   Food first.  Further discussion would have to wait.


    ------------------


    To their surprise, finding practice weapons wasn''t a problem.  The inn had existed for more than two centuries, and a goodly number of practice weapons had accumulated.  There were two racks of them at the side of the central courtyard, thus practice bouts such as they planned were not at all unusual.


    What was unusual was the size of the audience they had by the time they had finished working out.  It wasn''t that the boys were all that good.  Both Genie and Mario agreed privately that their techniques were more than a bit on the sloppy side.  But their speed!  They moved like greased lightning.  No bandit, even if they weren''t in their right mind, would want to fight them.


    Then there was Brigid.  The pair had each figured that the skills she knew were right up there with someone just starting their second year of Master Hiroshi''s advanced classes.  They nodded at each other.  Genie would be the best partner if they wanted to put on a good show for any spies.


    The girls strode to the center of the courtyard, faced each other, and nodded.  The attack was so fast that none of those watching was sure which of them moved first.  It hardly mattered, as all anyone saw was a continuous blur of movement, though it didn''t last all that long.  Brigid suddenly stepped back and bowed to Genie.  That she''d lost had surprised her, but her greatest surprise was that Genie wasn''t only slightly better than she was.  She was a whole lot better.  Once they arrived at this City of The Bells, she''d have to find out who had trained her and arrange for lessons for herself and the rest of the wing.


    She replaced her practice knife and turned to find Genie still in the courtyard.  Her husband Mario approached her, limping slightly, but carrying two staves.  Brigid had discounted the possibility of him having any value in a real fight except, possibly, while mounted, though, with his horse being untrained, he likely couldn''t do much.


    It was clear that Genie didn''t agree with that assessment.  She was whispering but Brigid had excellent hearing.  What Genie said was, "Not full contact today please.  I have to be able to move normally when we get to the bank this afternoon, and I''ll look like an idiot if I''m sore enough that I can barely walk."


    Mario nodded and grinned at her, then he attacked.  From the very beginning the sound of their staves blended into one, continuous crack, very like thunder.  It was clearly a demonstration, as Brigid could see after only a few seconds that he was as much better than Genie as Genie was better than her.


    Brigid revised her plan to get training in The City.  She intended to beg lessons starting tomorrow evening after they''d made camp.


    The demonstration wrapped up with Thea, their female mercenary,  giving a lesson in precision archery.  She''d lined up six pears and put herself 20 meters away.  By the time Brigid had counted to nine, Thea had put an arrow through each of them.


    Her primary worry had evaporated.  No bandit group in the entire country was likely to come within a kilometer of them once they heard about what their spies here had just seen.


    Genie and Mario approached Brigid and her team.  "Baths now, then we''ll see about getting your knives.  Stavros will have found out which is the best weapons shop in town by the time we''re finished."


    Stavros separated himself from a shadow nearby, approached, nodded, then ambled off.


    As they headed toward the baths, Mario draped an arm about Genie''s shoulders. "Feeling better now Love?"


    "Much.  Getting my blood circulating always seems to help me think more clearly.  I doubt that I''ll panic again for at least several hours."


    Brigid was as puzzled by their laughter as she was by their words.  She shrugged  her shoulders.  Nobody could understand everything, no matter how hard they tried.  Such was life.

 Vol 3 - Ch 23 Herding Cats

    After bathing, Genie and Mario took themselves off to the dealer to finalize the purchase of the extra horses they needed.


    At the same time, Ailin and Consuela herded all the children to a store that specialized in providing replacement travel clothing for pilgrims who had worn out some of their things while on the road.  There was, however, a problem finding something small enough for the youngest.  Finally, one of the sales clerks found two forgotten boxes of children''s clothes under some stairs and the problem was solved.


    When they got back to the inn, Ailin supervised their packing.  She''d brought enough packs from the Mule''s Tale to carry everything they would need for the trip.


    Stavros wandered back in around 10:30 and led Mattie''s team, Genie, and Mario to a weapons shop where they purchased appropriate knives.


    Brigid was surprised that the weapons selected for them were of the highest quality and were among the most expensive in the shop, even after Mario had somehow managed to talk the shopkeeper''s initial prices down by almost 40%.   As they were leaving, after secreting their knives under their new travel clothes, Brigid noticed the shopkeeper shaking his head over and over as if wondering what had just happened.  She found out later, after making a few queries, that it was unheard of for that shop to sell anything at more than a 20% discount.


    Shortly before they arrived back at the inn, Genie stopped the group in the middle of the square in front of the cathedral and motioned for them to gather around her.  "This is about as private a place to talk as we''re going to find.  What with all the groups of pilgrims standing around and gawking, we''ll appear to be just one more."


    She gestured in the direction of the cathedral and waved her hand a bit, as if explaining something.


    Looking intently at Mattie and her companions Genie spoke in a serious tone.  "You''re not just average children.  You''re all from the same village.  As best I can tell most of the others with you lost their families when that pestilence chewed its way through town almost three years ago, correct?"


    They nodded, she nodded back and said, "What you''re doing here, and why, will have to wait until Mimi or Ailin have sorted things out with you.  That''s all I have to say on that subject.  The other topic I want to cover is that, since you''ve demonstrated your willingness and abilities so publicly, you''re now officially designated as protectors of the other children."


    Mario finished the thought, "You may feel free to center your efforts on Mattie, but I want her in the middle of the group while we''re on the road anyway, her and the other younger kids, so you should have no problem protecting everyone."


    He grinned at them. "Welcome to the consequences of standing out."


    He looked around briefly, checking, mostly out of habit, to be sure that nobody was listening.  "Now that that''s settled, let''s go get lunch.  Genie and I still have that meeting at the bank at 2 p.m.  Stavros and Consuela will back you up in watching over the others.  I figure that Ailin will drop by occasionally, and definitely at bedtime.  Other than that, you''re in charge.  Just don''t get pushy about it..  However NONE of your charges are to leave the inn.  You''ve all just escaped.  We don''t want to have to rescue someone again because they got bored and wandered off.  There will be plenty to see and do once we get started in the morning."


    What Mattie and company didn''t realize was that ''Suela and Stav had filled in the twins and Jason as much as they were able before they blinked back to Metz that morning.  Nor did Mattie''s group realize that the reason Mario and Genie linked arms and held hands as they walked was because Genie was talking to Yoko.


    "Oh?  You don''t say Yoko.  That''s very interesting.  Priss just came by again and said that we need to take the shorter route on the local paths rather than looping south and following the main roads?  There''ll be heavy rain starting in about five to six weeks?  OK....  We can do that.  I just hope that the kids will be up to being in the saddle for 10 or 11 hours a day.


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    "Oh yes, certainly your majesty.  All we need to do is slather the sore ones with horse linament and they''ll be fine.   Right.  And who''s going to be living with their complaints for the next week and a half while they get adjusted to riding?  Not to mention that the linament really smells awful and that it''s a myth that it''s good for humans!


    "It''s not your fault?  Really?  I thought that you had miraculous powers over the weather or some such.  I''m sooo disappointed to hear that the rumor was untrue.  Sob....


    "Well... that''s not only useful but interesting.  Aunt Anna''s family will be putting up everyone until we can get their final placements sorted out?  That''s real good of her!  It''ll be nice for a change to not have echoes rattling around in their home when we visit, not to mention that Alphonse will probably be drooling at the chance to dress so many new toys in his ''creations''.  I just hope that I don''t have to see any of them.


    "No, seeing what he comes up with is something I can live without, and...oh?  You''ll have Jason oversee so they end up with colors that don''t look like a drunk madman dressed them?   Well then.  That sounds fine.  Good.  Yes indeed.  No, we don''t need anything else.  Ailin already brought everything we couldn''t buy easily here.


    "Sure.  I''ll give a shout if anything comes up, otherwise I''ll expect to hear from you at the usual time after you finish breakfast tomorrow.  Yes.  Love you too.  Bye."


    She murmured to Mario in Japanese, "Good news. My aunt Anna and her family will be putting up all 13 of them for as long as needed.  The bad news is that Priss has foreseen rather horrendous weather starting in about five or six weeks.  We may have to push things if we want to get to The City before it hits."


    He replied in the same language, "Umm.  Right.   Well, if worst comes to worst, we can have the smaller kids sit on blankets in front of the adults if they become too sore or sleepy enough that they''re in danger of falling out of the saddle."


    He ran his hand through his hair, exactly as Hiroshi Macklin did when stressed, then he laughed and finished in Italian.  "Well, compared to the trip home after that bandit stabbed me, this is going to be nothing."


    Genie pulled him closer and briefly laid her head on his shoulder.  Remembering the day when he arrived more dead than alive still gave her the shakes.


    He looked down at her tenderly.  "Not to worry Love.  After what Master Hiroshi did to me when he started working with me again, I''ll never, EVER make another mistake like that!"


    Brigid frowned slightly.  The two of them had obviously not wanted her to understand the first part of what they''d discussed, but then had switched to Italian.  They just as clearly had wanted her to hear that part, though she couldn''t see why, unless....  Yes.  For some reason Mario wanted her to know the name of the Master who had trained them.  Most interesting.


    She was prevented from further thoughts by their arrival at the inn.  Absolutely wonderful scents were flowing out the door, and her mouth began to water.  The meal last night and breakfast today had been the first decent food they''d had in over two years, and her stomach was telling her that it wanted more.  Right now!  It had made similar demands on many occasions in the past but  always futilely.  This time however it was going to get its way.


    All six of the children hurried inside and joined the others who were waiting, semi-politely for the late-comers to join them.


    After lunch ''Suela gathered them all in the upstairs hall, that being the only place that could hold all of them and was still private.  "It''s about Heidi.  She''s improved a great deal already.  It''s also been decided that my family is going to adopt her.  She''ll be my roommate from now on seeing as I have a spare bed in my room and we''re almost the same age.


    "Also....  My aunt and her family are going to let all of you live with them for now.  Their home is pretty large, and you won''t be crowded.  That way you should be comfortable until we can find you permanent places to live that you approve of.    Mimi told you that you were going to have homes where you''d be cared for and about, and that''s exactly what''s going to happen."


    That last part ''Suela had said very firmly and somewhat louder than the rest.  It had been her true feeling, and that, plus hearing that Heidi was already being adopted, reassured the others immensely.  All of them, for various reasons, had been on the receiving end of multiple broken promises in the past few years.   This time they''d already received part of what they''d been promised, which made them hopeful about the rest.


    Hope is an incredibly wonderful thing, and, for the first time in what seemed like forever, they had reason to believe that what they hoped for really would come true.


    For now though, they all were all excited about being introduced to "their" horses that afternoon, and to some practice riding, even though it would be only around the courtyard of the inn.

 Vol 3 - Ch 24 Books and New Family

    Saturday September 22, in The Year 725 AF   1:30 p.m. at the Bank of the Griffon


    "Whew!  That should do it."  Mario carefully wiped the sweat off his forehead to keep it from dripping on any of the books.


    It had taken longer than they expected to set up, the hardest part being finding enough tables and other flat surfaces to display the books on.  But now it was done and with 30 minutes to spare.


    At Genie''s suggestion, and privately he was still beating himself for not seeing the possibilities, they had invited all the local partners in the bank, and the chief clerk, to attend the showing.  If they so chose, they could each buy any five books they wanted at a 30% discount.


    After every one of them had accepted with huge smiles, she didn''t say a word to Mario.  Words aren''t necessary when one has a relationship as close as theirs.  Not to mention that every time she looked his way, her self-satisfied smirk spoke volumes.


    He sat down, to rest a bit, and to think.  Half an hour ago, Brigid has suddenly appeared and taken him aside.  She had informed him that Robin Pascal''s husband ran a small coffee house on one of the side streets.  It was fairly popular, but lack of space and its inconvenient location prevented it from any greater success.


    That was when she''d shown that, even at the young age of 14, she was capable of rubbing it in.  She''d very casually drawled, "I wonder how business might be affected for both of their shops if they moved to a better location, say, that vacant building right across the square from the bank, and just happened to merge.  With the right interior layout I imagine that both of them would see substantial increases in their profits."


    With that she''d smirked at him just as evilly as Genie, waved, and said over her shoulder as she left, "I''m heading back to the inn.  Almost nobody else knows one end of a horse from the other."


    Once she was out of sight, he bent forward and put his head in his hands.  It just wasn''t fair.  Two women blindsiding him in the same day, and both of them were right.  So much for his lofty opinion of his skills.  While getting your ego punctured might be necessary at times, it was also rather painful.


    Well, at least he shouldn''t feel bad, maybe, about Robin and her husband.  Brigid had lived here for over two years.  She''d had more than enough time to learn where all the shops were.


    "And what would Aldus say to an apprentice who hadn''t checked out all the possible business connections of a new client?"


    "Heh.  He''d chew them up one side and down the other for being sloppy, that''s what he''d do."


    "Well, well. You remember.  How droll...  Now quit lying to yourself, figure out how to do better in the future, and get back to work. Dolt!"


    Mario jumped to attention and snapped out, "Yes ma''am!" to the empty air.  There wasn''t anyone there.  He rubbed his eyes.  They hadn''t gotten much sleep last night.  Was he so tired that he was hallucinating?


    "Not hardly.  Now get back to work.  We''ll talk later.  Probably much later, but we will have a nice chat."


    The voice took on a hard edge, "That is, it''ll be a ''nice chat'' if you straighten up by then.  Otherwise, probably not. Toodles."


    He stared at the ceiling and counted to 30.  Focus.  Focus.  One of Ringvold''s first lessons had been about putting aside distractions that weren''t urgent and focusing on the problem at hand.  That''s what he''d best do.  Besides, if he did that, maybe he could make himself forget what just happened.  He doubted it, but maybe....


    The only response to that thought was a burst of high-pitched, almost tinkling laughter that sounded like a donkey trying to sing soprano.


    He shook his head and left the room to meet their guests.  That and to arrange that by the end of the meeting the bankers would think that the idea of financing the moving and integration of  Robin''s and her husband''s businesses was theirs.


    ------------------


    It was a little after 5 p.m. when Genie and Mario were able to leave.  Once outside he began stretching out the kinks and she was...giggling?


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    "All right wench, just what evil thoughts are percolating through that devious mind of yours?"


    "What?  Me?  Devious?  How rude!"


    She looked at him with mischief in her grin. "It''s true, but it''s extremely rude of you to come out and say it."


    "All right.  I admit that I''m a rude, insensitive boor.  Now that I''ve admitted it, explain."


    "Ah. You''re no fun."


    Genie grinned at him again.  "All right. I give.  It''s Robin.  She''s a lot smarter than I''d given her credit for, seeing as she got all goggle-eyed when she first saw the books.  Her husband Pierre is no slouch either.  When we left, the two of them were talking terms of the loan, and they were tag-teaming the bankers.  They''d managed to convince the partners to include half of any discounts on book or coffee shop purchases the bankers made as partial payments on the principle of the loan.  They were threshing out the details for keeping track as I was going out the door."


    She laughed out loud.  "It may be that, for the first time ever, that old saying about "eating into your profits" could literally be true!"


    Mario tossed his arm around her shoulders, pulled her close, and kissed the top of her head.  "Well done Love.


    "While you were introducing Pierre to the partners, I was working out arrangements with Robin on how she can order more books from us.  I have to admit that I never thought she''d take all 712 left over after the partners picked out the ones they wanted, but she was certain that she''d be able to make use of them.  She plans to turn part of her new quarters into a small library."


    Genie held up her hand.  "Don''t tell me, let me guess.  The library part will be in the section with the coffee shop, right?"


    "Got it in one Love.  To tell the truth, I''d hate to be negotiating with them if I were starting from a position with even the slightest disadvantage.  They might, maybe, if they were together, be a match for Aldus."


    He stroked his chin, "Though I have no doubt that if they were matched against both Aldus and Alicia, they''d not be quite so successful."


    Genie took his arm and held his hand, "Well, on that note, let''s make our report now rather than later.  We''re going to need as much time as possible to get everything sorted out so we can leave early tomorrow."


    "That''s for sure.  Go ahead.  I''ll steer, you report.  Then let''s eat.  I''m famished."


    -----------------------------------


    The five adults, Consuela, Stavros, and Brigid had easily managed to secure the travel necessities that they needed to buy, and the planned after dinner packing/preparing to leave proceedings took far less time than expected.  The reason was simple: The children didn''t own anything, so there was no possibility of leaving anything behind.


    Once they''d finished, all the packs were deposited in one of the spare rooms on the third floor that had a window too small for even a small child to enter through.  It''s not that they were expecting thieves in such a reputable inn in such a lovely city....


    (Well of course they were.  Remember this class, "Constructive paranoia is constructive.")


    Not for the last time, Mario regretted that very few inns and businesses outside Italy had warded storage facilities.  Oh well.  He reminded himself that "what is, is" and went on about his business.  At least while they were awake, all the children running back and forth in the hall would provide excellent security.


    There was plenty of time before bedtime to finish sorting out which child would best fit which horse, as there were five experienced riders to help with the choosing.  It seemed that Brigid was the only child from the village who could ride because, as the eldest, she''d been used as a messenger when an outlying farm or another village needed something.


    Once the children had settled down for the night, ''Suela and Stav blinked home to sleep in familiar beds.  Officially at least.  ''Suela''s desire to return home for the night stemmed as much from her desire to spend time with her new sister Heidi as anything else.  She reveled in learning and seeing new things, and Heidi promised to be a huge source of both.  One thing that especially excited Consuela was that Heidi''s questions about The City had already shown her how much she herself had yet to learn about it.


    Sara had decreed that, as Heidi needed practice writing in Italian rather than French, she was to write out all her questions.  Her oral skills were already acceptable.  It was that which had initially puzzled ''Suela the most.  ALL the children spoke at least passable Italian, which was highly unusual what with them being French, and near the German border to boot.


    When she asked Heidi about it -- which was frustrating as Sara also made her write down her questions so as to give Heidi even more practice with reading -- she was informed that, what with the constant flow of pilgrims visiting Metz, a child who could beg in multiple languages had a much better chance of going to sleep with food in their stomachs.


    Upon reading Heidi''s reply, Consuela broke into inconsolable tears, which persisted until Sara picked her up, put her in her lap, and rocked her like a baby until she was able to get herself back under control.


    The effect on Heidi was just as predictable, though the reason for her tears was not what one might expect.  She cried because someone else was crying for her.  Nobody had ever done that before.  It was that, as well as Sara''s behavior, which, more than anything that came before or happened afterwards, cemented her relationship with the family.


    After they were ready for bed, ''Suela crawled in with Heidi.  "Is it OK?  For some reason, I can''t bear the thought of sleeping alone tonight."


    Heidi stroked her hair, "Yeah.  Me too.  Thank you for letting me be your sister."


    ''Suela sniffled, "Hey, that''s my line."


    They squirmed around till their backs were touching and were soon asleep.

 Vol 3 - Ch 25 A Brief Respite

    -------------------


    Paolo finished his report to Sara, "Well that''s everything.  I hate eavesdropping, but with the situation so fluid I''m glad you asked me to ''listen in'' tonight."


    He rolled over in bed to catch her eye.  "I don''t think we''re going to have any problems with her fitting in, do you?"


    "Probably not.  I''m absolutely certain that something we haven''t thought of will pop up somewhere along the line.  But it looks like there''s already a solid enough foundation that when it does, whatever it is, it won''t cause too many problems."


    Paolo yawned.  "You''re probably right.  Well, actually, since you''re almost never wrong, ''probably'' is probably too mild a word.  Either way, we both need sleep.  Tomorrow morning isn''t going to wait for us."


    She stroked his cheek.  "That''s for sure.  So then, I''ll plan on seeing you first thing in the morning."


    With that they cuddled a bit closer, closed their eyes, and drifted off.


    ---------------------


    Sunday September 23, in The Year 725 After the Founding, Metz, France


    As expected the children had all stayed up WAY too late the night before due to their excitement.  The result was that they were still groggy as the adults finished the routine preparations for leaving.  There were more horses than usual, but they''d done the same things dozens to hundreds of times, and there were no hitches.


    They got the children fed, said their goodbyes, and headed out.  They had a long way to go and less time than they''d originally expected.


    Once Mario, Genie, Hugh, and Thea had discussed Priss'' suggestion, they decided to ignore most of it.  Riding across country on the local farm lanes, even though they were dry this time of year, was going to take longer than looping south on the main roads for most of the way.


    However, once they got far enough south, there was a reasonable network of secondary roads that should shorten their journey substantially.  There weren''t as many good inns, but, considering where the children had been living, even a so-so inn would probably seem like a palace.


    But that was for later.  Thea and Hugo were riding in the rear, which gave Genie and Mario time to cover one other important subject.


    "No, as a matter of fact, I didn''t forget Love.  As it happens, Mme. Robin is quite a patriot, and she has a rather vehement dislike of the German efforts to bite off pieces of her beloved country.  I''ve arranged for her to write to me should she hear of anything untoward happening or about to happen.  What with her husband''s new, larger coffee shop, I''m sure that there will be oodles of juicy gossip.  Some of it will probably be useful."


    Genie smiled at him.  "Well, well.  How about that?  You''re not nearly as useless as I''d heard.  How delightful!"


    The sound of their laughter almost woke the children riding closest behind them, but they settled back into the doze the almost soporific sound of the horses'' hooves striking the road had induced.  Mario and Genie were limiting their speed to a brisk walk for the nonce.  Once everyone, including the horses and mules had settled down, they''d pick up the pace.  With none of the animals carrying much weight, they''d likely be able to move along at an easy trot off and on.


    ----------------


    A few days after they''d turned off the main road and were well into Italy, they came to a surprisingly large village, which was called La Grande.  As they rode in, Mario explained.  The road that lead to the northwest from The City passed about a day''s travel north of this particular village.  Most travellers from the north, even if their destination was in the south, headed east for another two days as there was a wider road heading south there.  However those in a hurry, those with animals that weren''t particularly heavily laden, and most smugglers came through here.  The road was narrow and had a number of switchbacks, but it was shorter, and more ''private'' than the main road further east.


    In the spring and at the end of autumn, in addition to the "regular" travelers, there were also a substantial number of merchants who used the road so as to save a few days.  In the former case it was to get to market ahead of competitors who took the main road, and in the latter, it was to increase their chance of beating the first snows.


    Combining the numbers of all the groups, there was a surprising amount of traffic, thus the unusual size of the village.  Because of the smugglers and the occasional bandit, there was also a small army garrison at the north edge of town.  The group espied several of the King''s soldiers outside the largest of the five inns as they approached.


    As they rode into the courtyard to dismount, the hostler approached.  "We''ll have to put about half your mounts over at the horse traders.  We''re a might busy right now."


    Mario nodded.  "Aye, so I''d thought."  He flipped a small silver coin to the hostler, who caught it and smiled.


    "There''ll be two more of those for you when we leave if that trader doesn''t sell or swap out any of our mounts ''by accident''."


    The hostler grinned widely, then whistled for his helpers.


    As Genie and Brigid were getting the children organized, Mario went inside.  They''d probably have to bunk five or six to a room if what the hostler said about being busy was right.


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    He approached the innkeeper and was surprised to hear, "Ah ha!  It''s good to see you again Mario.  I heard about you and your wife rescuing all those orphans.  Good thing you sent a messenger ahead.  She passed through last week and said that you''d probably arrive either today or tomorrow.  Since I was forewarned, I had a couple of the storerooms upstairs cleared and cleaned.  You can put the children in them.  We don''t have beds, but I was able to get a dozen mattresses laid down.  Even those will be better than sleeping on the ground.  I have two rooms free for you four adults as well."


    When it came to business, Mario never showed his surprise.  "Excellent!  My thanks for all your extra work.  The children most definitely will consider any kind of bedding an improvement.  We''ve been on the road almost four weeks and have another seven to nine days to go to get to The City.  Staying in an inn as good as yours will be quite a treat for them."


    She beamed, he beamed, and then they got down to business and haggled over rates, the price of their meals, and fodder for their mounts and mules.  She was a bit more flexible than usual for this time of year.  She''d lost two of her own children three years earlier when the plague swept through the area and felt a great deal of sympathy for the ''poor orphans''.


    Likewise, Mario was less aggressive in his bargaining because she''d already put out some extra effort, and he wanted to stay in her good graces.  Especially if any of the children got into trouble while exploring their new surroundings.


    Eventually they arrived at a price that, while not entirely satisfying, both considered fair.


    ---------------------------


    Dinner was hot, filling, and surprisingly good.  There was even apple pie for dessert.  Once they had that, the children were feeling quite mellow and calmly went upstairs to get ready for sleep, and a bit of reasonably quiet play.  That is except for two of them.  They were the older two of the four boys who had originally lived in Metz and had lost their parents in the plague.  If Genie recalled correctly, Tomas and Geoffrey were 10 years old.


    Starting right after dinner, they hovered in the general vicinity of the innkeeper but weren''t getting in her way, so Genie let them be.


    Several hours later, around 10 p.m., she decided that bed was a good idea if they were to be out on schedule in the morning.  However said schedule was trashed when the front door banged open and two thoroughly disgusted men stalked in.  They went straight to the bar.  One of them shouted, "ALE!"  The other didn''t speak at all but rather sat there with a sour expression.


    The innkeeper waved off the server and delivered their mugs herself.  "What''s got you two in such a snit?"


    After taking a long swallow, the first lifted his head and said, "It''s that damn weather witch.  No, that''s not right.  It''s not her.  It''s what she''s predicted for tomorrow.  She says that there''ll be heavy rain starting late tonight and lasting through the morning.  It''ll be clear by late afternoon, but the roads will be mucky until they drain overnight.  That means that we can''t get our shipment out till the day after tomorrow!"


    Genie ambled over to the bar.  "You don''t say?  Is this weather witch really that good."


    Number two slammed down his mug, causing some ale to spill out the top.  "Damn right she is!  Saved me and mine several times in the past eight years.  Or is it nine years?  Well, never mind how long it''s been.  Just mind the fact that, so far, she''s never been wrong.  Not even once.  Right?"


    He looked at his companion and the innkeeper, who both nodded in agreement.


    Genie turned to the innkeeper and said,  "We''ll be staying an extra day."


    "Wise choice.  Fortunately, what with the rain, we likely won''t have anyone else coming in tomorrow."


    She turned to leave then turned back, "Name''s Laura Fittipaldi.  You''re Eugenia Brown, right?"


    "Yep. That''s me.  Pleased to know you.  Ah.  Say.  While we''re at it, my boys aren''t bothering you, are they?"


    Laura turned and looked at them fondly. "Eh?  Bothering me.  No, not at all.  In fact I''m enjoying their company.  They''re just a year younger than mine would have been if it weren''t for that damned plague three years back."


    Genie bowed her head, both in respect and in gratitude.  The City hadn''t had but three or four sporadic cases when the plague had roared through the rest of Europe.  The water from the spring and the skill of the physicians had prevented hundreds, if not thousands of deaths.  Now that she thought of it, all those cats that suddenly camped out near the gates and rooted the vermin out of every single wagon entering The City probably had something to do with it too.


    When she lifted her head, she saw Laura looking at her with a very gentle expression.   "Would you mind if I spent some time with them tonight?  There''s some things I''d like to talk over with them."


    Genie shook her head.  "Not at all.  Take all the time the three of you need.  Since we''re not going anywhere tomorrow, there''s no reason they can''t stay up as late as they want."


    She glanced around and lowered her voice, "Just don''t let any of the other children know."


    Laura giggled and said, "I promise.  My lips are sealed."


    So saying, she walked over to some chairs in the corner, the boys following her like goslings after their mother.


    Mario walked in from checking the horses and motioned toward the stairs with his head.  Genie nodded and followed.   When they got to their room she went first, "I think that there are two more we aren''t going to have to worry about finding places for."


    "What do you mean Love?"


    "It''s the innkeeper, Laura Fittipaldi.  I have no doubt that she''s completely besotted with our 10 year old twins."


    Seeing a blank look she added, "Tomas and Geoffrey Lenz.  It looks like they''re already fairly strongly attached to her too."


    She stretched, yawned, and scratched her head.  "Well, we''ll probably have a good idea of how the wind is blowing by tomorrow evening.  In that respect, it''s probably a good thing that we''re going to be stuck here until the day after."


    "Huh?  Stuck here?  What makes you think that?"


    She smiled at him.  "Apparently they have a ''weather witch'' here who''s 100% accurate in her forecasts.  At least over the past 8 years or so since she arrived.  There are a couple of men downstairs drowning their sorrows because she said that there''ll be rain tonight that will have the roads a mess until the day after tomorrow.


    "By the way, I hate to admit it, but I''ve lost track.  What is today anyway?"


    "It''s Tuesday the 23rd of October."


    "All right.  Good, maybe.  Are we on schedule?"


    "Close enough.  At worst we should arrive in about eight to 10 more days."


    Genie grinned at him.  "Good.  That should get us to The City at least two days before our deadline."


    Smiling coyly, she continued, "And since we''re stuck for an extra day, and don''t have to be up early, it doesn''t matter how late we stay up tonight, does it?"


    Mario let a shocked expression show.  "But Honey, what if the kids hear us?"


    "You mean those kids on another floor that are so busy playing, if they''re not already asleep,  that they don''t know or care where we are right now.  Those kids?"


    Before he could respond, she closed the distance between them and silenced the response he was about to make in the most enjoyable way possible.

 Vol 3 - Ch 26 Sleight of Hand

    As predicted, there was a pouring rain the next morning, and, of course, several of the kids wanted to be outside playing in it.


    Genie was trying to block the door to prevent them leaving when Laura walked up, gently but firmly pushed Genie aside, and held the door open for the whooping children.  They charged out and began splashing around like lunatics.


    "What, how, why...." Genie was sputtering for all she was worth while trying not to yell at Laura for her carelessness.


    "Hush child. It''s fine.  It''s not quite as strong as the one in your city, but we also have a hot spring that helps with healing.  The bathhouse is right on the other side of those double doors across the room there.  Handy, don''t you think?"


    Several of the other children, who weren''t as boisterous as those already splashing around in the puddles, looked at Genie with expectant, puppy-dog eyes.


    "Go on you scamps.  Have fun.  But don''t drip on Mrs. Fittipaldi''s floor when you come back in to use the baths."


    Laura nodded her thanks then gestured for Genie to follow her.  She led her to what was likely her private office, where Genie found Tomas and Geoffrey standing politely just inside the door.


    Laura spoke first, "You''re not blind.  I watched you watching us.  There''s a way such things are usually done, with the adults making the decisions.   But there''s also a way that they should be done, so I''m going to let the boys speak first."


    The boys looked at each other, nodded, and Tomas spoke up, "It''s like this.  Well, you see, our folks, they had an inn in Metz before they died.  It was a lot smaller than the Peddlar, but it was a good place to stay.  We had a lot of regulars.  So, uh, with them gone, we want to be like them and help travellers just like they did."


    He gestured toward Laura.  "Mrs. Laura here, she lost her boys just like we lost our folks.  The way things are, well, it''s like we can both sort of pick up where we left off."


    He looked intently at Genie. "She''s good people she is.  When she gets old, and can''t run the inn any more, we want to be here to take care of her, the mister, and it.  So, anyway, we want to stay here with her."


    He looked to Geoff who said, "That''s it.  That''s what we wanted to say."


    Laura smiled fondly at them.  "You spoke well younglings.  You should be proud of  yourselves.  Now take yourselves off and play so Mrs. Brown and I can talk.  If things fall out as we hope, starting Monday you''ll be too busy after school learning about running an inn to spend much time playing."


    Huge grins were their only response.  They spun around, closed the door quietly behind them, then, based on the sounds of rapidly retreating feet, ran as fast as they could on their way outside.


    "You haven''t met my husband yet Genie, or at least you wouldn''t have known it.  He''s one of those folks that the fancy talking people in the cities call ''taciturn''.  Basically he almost never says anything.  He says that it''s ''cause when he''s said what he has to say, he stops.


    "All he''s said about the boys is that ''they''re getting in my way.''"


    Laura let out a short laugh. "He''s always like that.  Not saying what he really feels.  Sometimes I wonder how it is that we fit together so well."


    She sat up straighter.  "Anyway, that''s what he said, but the boys have been following him around nearly as much as they have me this morning.  He doesn''t say anything, but when he does something, he always moves so the boys can see exactly how he does it."


    Laura blotted her suddenly damp eyes.  "It''s just like how he was with our own twins."


    Her voice firmed, "Well, that''s how it is.  What say you?"


    "I don''t recall anyone telling me that I have any particular authority when it comes to deciding where they live.  Besides, it''s obvious.  You like them, and they like you.  That''s already a great deal more than I''ve seen in some families.


    "At least we don''t have to unpack.  They have nothing.  Nothing at all."


    Laura handed her a handkerchief.  Genie took it then asked, "Thank you I guess.  But why?"


    "To blot your cheeks child.  There are tears dripping off your chin.  We can''t have you looking like that when I introduce you to our guest."


    Genie raised her hand to her face.  It came away wet.  How odd that she hadn''t noticed.  Hurriedly she blotted.  Laura was right.  If there was someone else to meet, she didn''t want to be seen until she had herself under better control.


    Laura nodded, retrieved the handkerchief, then stood and opened a side door Genie hadn''t paid attention to previously.  It opened on a covered, outdoors alcove of sorts that the inn wrapped around on three sides.  On the other side of the door were Mario and a man with the bearing of someone in the military.


    Laura beckoned them in, closed the door, and gestured to chairs.  She nodded at the man who''d entered with Mario.  "Lieutenant Garavani here needs to talk to you two."


    Mario explained, "We''ve met previously a time or two when business brought me this way.  He''s quite the conscientious fellow.  Searched every single one of my packs, twice, the first few times I passed through when I was coming from the north.  I imagine that most of the smugglers have found other routes by now."


    The lieutenant smiled in a predatory manner.  "That''s the idea.  There''s no way to completely stop smuggling, but we do our best to make it harder."


    Cocking his head to the side, as if thinking, he offered, " I heard a bit of your conversation earlier.  Your speech pattern is rather distinctive.  Might you be from The City of the Bells?  I do so love the moonrise there when it lines up with the spires of the Little Cathedral."


    Genie responded, "Indeed, I am from there.  However, I prefer the sunset during the Harvest Festival in late November."


    The lieutenant looked back and forth between Mario and Genie several times. "Remarkable, and how very effective.  I was sure that Mario here was one of Blair''s agents, but it turns out that it''s you."


    Genie glared at him and looked pointedly at Laura.  There were some things you just didn''t do in front of the public.


    Laura laughed.  "You need to control you expression better little one, else you''ll give yourself entirely away, no matter how clever you are.  It''s as your mother and I were taught when we were training together, ''An agent needs to always remember that it doesn''t matter how good she is at sneaking about and ferreting out information if her face gives her away.''  I trust I won''t have to inform Miranda of your error."


    The look she followed up with had Genie instantly standing at attention. "Yes ma''am.  I mean no ma''am.  Ah, I mean, yes, I''ll work harder!"


    Laura gestured for her to be seated.  "That''s obviously why you''re not doing solo work.  You''re too young and inexperienced.  And don''t pout at me child, it just makes my point for me."


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    She gestured toward the lieutenant. "Benito and I found out about each other, what was it, about 11 years ago?"


    He nodded.  "About that, yes."


    She smiled her thanks.  "Anyway, it seems that Blair had arranged for him to be stationed here to report back on smugglers and any other interesting travelers from up north.  When she found out that I was coming back to the family inn, Miranda asked me to keep an eye out for anyone who looked suspicious and was heading to The City.


    "Benito and I have plenty of time to chat and compare notes once or twice a week when he brings his wife over to have dinner.  And that brings us to why he''s here today, yes?"


    He nodded.  "Indeed.  After I was posted here, I soon realized what a wonderful place it is.  Not so small that everyone knows what everyone else is doing, but not so large that you don''t know most of the rest of the people in town.  Since someone needs to be here to gather intelligence, Blair managed to get me posted here permanently.  I''m happy, and so is she.  What she said was: ''Now I won''t have to train someone new for your position every two or three years.  I''m overworked as it is.''"


    Grins were shared all around then he resumed, "Which brings me to the point.  It''s peaceful here, and folks get along reasonably well.  Both of us,"  he pointed to himself and Laura, "want it to stay that way.  We agree that the only way for that to be possible involves you two."


    Benito was well pleased when all they did was focus their full attention on him and wait.  Both Miranda and Blair hated trivial speech.  It looked like the trait had rubbed off on these two as well.


    "The situation is this.  Three years ago, the miller and his wife died of the plague, leaving behind 10-year-old twin girls.  Things went reasonably well for the children even so.  Laura here has been watching over them and teaching them about what it''s like to be a woman.  I''ve handled their financial affairs thus far, and, well, that''s what''s becoming a problem.


    "About six months after their parents died, another miller moved to town and approached me about renting the mill.  I checked his history as best I could.  He''s reasonably good at what he does, and he doesn''t cheat on weights or overcharge.  The problem is that he''s more than a bit tightfisted when it comes to money.


    "Just lately he''s come up with what he thinks is a way to save a lot of it.   If his sons were to marry the twins, then they''d own the mill and wouldn''t have to pay rent any more."


    Mario raised his hand.  "Wait a minute.  The girls were 10 when their parents died, right?  That means that they''re only 13 now!"


    Gerard nodded again.  "Indeed. Normally it wouldn''t, couldn''t, have gone any further, but our priest here...well, the best I can say is that he wants to be liked too much.  He''s young, and he doesn''t realize that, while being liked is not bad, it''s more important for a priest to be respected.


    "So, he''s wavering, but I expect that within a few months that miller will convince him to marry the girls to his sons anyway."


    Genie sprang to her feet. "No way, no how!  First of all it''s illegal!  It requires the consent of TWO priests for a girl of fifteen to be married.  The only way that a girl of 13 or 14 can be legally married is if either an archbishop or a cardinal approves, and that''s only part of the procedure.


    "The penalty for a priest performing such a marriage on his own is immediate excommunication without appeal."


    Both Gerard and Laura looked to Mario for confirmation.  This was not only news, but major news.


    Mario nodded.  "Indeed she is telling you the truth.  There was a matter just over a year ago involving the preparations for the marriage of two 15 year old girls to a 14 year old boy.  Fortunately it''s turned out well for all concerned.  However, as Genie intimated, it''s far more complicated than just finding a willing archbishop."


    He looked at the lieutenant intently. "I imagine that it might be useful if the priest in question learned about that particular law in the near future from someone or other.  That ''someone'' might also mention that there are copies of the volume detailing exceptions to the normal marriage procedures that can be found in the library of the Little Cathedral in The City.  It also details the penalties for those who don''t follow the proper procedures."


    Laura smiled thinly.  "That takes care of the immediate urgency, but doesn''t solve the problem.  Not only do the girls not like the miller''s sons, but they can no longer bear living here.  The memory of their parent''s deaths is still with them, almost as if it happened yesterday and not three years ago.


    "In short, they need to leave and build new lives elsewhere.  Of course 13 year old children can''t do that on their own.  BUT, if they had help, say from two people who were already helping other orphans, and who now have two empty saddles that could be filled when they leave..."


    Mario and Genie exchanged a wordless glance as Laura added, "Fortunately they''re on the small side, and they haven''t yet started their monthlys.  If they were to wear travel cloaks when they left and were to hunch over a bit, they''d look like boys to anyone who might be watching when you ride out in the morning."


    Genie grinned at Laura and Girard.  "And the fact that the miller would forever be stuck paying rent unless he coughs up enough to buy the mill wouldn''t give you two any satisfaction at all."


    Their faces both had just a hint of evil grins at that point.


    Mario interjected, "That''s all well and good, but if these girls simply disappear, and the lieutenant continues collecting rent, there will be some who will figure that he got rid of them somehow so he could pocket the money."


    Dismay washed over Laura and Gerard.  That was something they hadn''t thought of.


    However, Mario wasn''t finished.  "I''m a representative of the Bank of the Griffon.  I''m also a notary, and I just happen to have my seals with me.  That being the case, I wonder how folks here would react if you could produce a notarized document showing that the Bank had assumed guardianship of the twins, and that in the future all rental fees were to be paid directly to the local representative of the bank instead of the lieutenant.


    He looked at Laura.  "I''ve known you for several years now, and  I know that you have an eye for business opportunities.  How would you like to be that representative?  Given time, and if you''re willing, having a branch of the bank here would be profitable for both of you, seeing as how so many travelers from the north pass through.  Your profits from the inn would rise as well as you''d have more customers since they''d be able to avoid riding an extra three or four days east along the north road to reach a bank."


    Genie felt comfortable enough to try a small sally.  "Didn''t you just tell me that an agent needs to have excellent control of her expressions at all times?  Right now, with your mouth hanging open like that, you look like a fish."


    Laura''s glare was intense enough to freeze a glass of water.  Then she laughed, long and loud.  "So I did child.  So I did."


    Looking at Benito she almost whispered, "That plan is devious enough that Miranda or Blair might have come up with it themselves.  I LIKE it.  How about you?"


    "Indeed. It covers all the bases nicely.  The only thing we need now is the approval of the girls."


    Benito feigned surprise and whispered, "And what do you know.  I just happened to have brought them here with me.  Who''d have thought that you''d be needing to talk to them?"


    He crept to the door and jerked it open.  Two girls, who had obviously had their ears to the door, fell in, one on top of the other.


    The lieutenant pointed.  "The one on top is Gertie.  She''s the eldest.  The one on the bottom is Feliz."


    Without moving they said in unison, "Pleased to meet you, Sir, Madame."


    Laura walked over, helped them up, brushed them off, and then sighed, "Well, at least we don''t have to explain things all over again.  So, tell me.  What do you  think."


    Gertie began, "We''ve been talking about it while we were listening, and"


    Feliz finished, "we like the idea.  A lot."


    Then both of them said, "Especially the part about that Mr. Rogers being stuck with paying for what he was trying to steal."


    Genie and Mario looked at each other and nodded.  It seemed that the spring here also let at least some of the local twins speak "twin."


    Gertie wasn''t quite finished.  "We don''t have much, so we brought it with us.  Our packs are outside the door."


    Genie stood.  "Well.  Well.  Imagine that.  Why don''t I take you girls upstairs and introduce you to the others.  That way you can get acquainted before we leave tomorrow morning.  It''ll also let me tell them not to talk to anyone about you before then."


    She looked at Mario.  He''d never mentioned that he was a notary.  They''d have a little discussion about that later.  For now though, she asked, "How many signatures do you need as witnesses?"


    "Actually none.  My signature and appropriate seal are all that will be needed.  I have a few sheets of quality paper in a waterproof package in one of our packs.  I''ll go get that and my seals. Then, if Mrs. Fittipaldi can provide some sealing wax?"


    "Of course.  You never know when you might need some, yes?  It''s right here in my desk."


    Genie smiled.  "Well there you go.  You three play with your documents and  your scheme.  I''ll be upstairs playing with the children."


    Mario looked puzzled.  "Documents?  Plural?"


    "Well duh!  One for the guardianship, one for the rental agreement, which will now need to be formalized in writing what with a bank being involved, and one appointing Mrs. Fittipaldi as the local representative of the bank.  You certainly shouldn''t put all three on the same paper.  Besides it will look better and be more impressive if there are more than one and they can be spread out on a table should anyone want to see them.


    "You''d also probably best date them as from about two months ago.  That would explain nicely why we weren''t travelling on the main roads on this part of our way back from Metz.  We needed to come here to deliver the documents as well as to pick up the girls.  That way there won''t be so many people thinking that this was a spur of the moment thing designed to embarrass the miller."


    "I knew there was a good reason why I married you.  I''ll get right on it."

 Vol 3 - Ch 27 Arrival

    Thursday, October 26 in The Year 725 After the Founding


    They rode away from the village around 7:30 a.m. It was still not all that light, but it was good enough for them to see where they were going. There was one small change in their plans though. Gertie and Feliz had decided that it would be more ''romantic'' if they left with their heads held high rather than sneaking out of town. Besides, the few people who might recognize them as they left all worked at the inn and wouldn''t be able to take breaks till lunchtime. It would be several hours before word reached the miller, and by then it would be far too late for him to interfere.


    Just before they mounted, they turned as one and presented Laura with something. "For Mr. Roberts to remember us by since he liked it so much."


    Laura''s guffaws echoed off the walls of the inn as the group headed out.


    Once they''d reached the road and had settled into their traveling pace, Genie slowed her horse and let the girls catch up with her. "All right. What happened when you left? In my entire life I''ve not heard someone laugh so hard."


    The girls exchanged glances then Gertie spoke, "That Mr. Roberts told us over and over and over again about how he loved our long hair. It was a real pain to take care of since it was so long that we could almost sit on it. He wasn''t our father, but we had to sort of go along with him to keep things peaceful."


    They pulled back their hoods, revealing hair less than 10 cm long. "Brigid knows how, so we had her cut our hair last night."


    Gertie smiled maliciously at Genie. "Since Mr. Roberts liked our hair so much, we asked Mrs. Fittipaldi to give it to him the next time she saw him."


    Feliz added quietly, "We did it up nicely, with bows. Seeing as that bastard liked it so much, he can give it to his boys. They can sleep with it instead of us."


    Genie''s laughter woke everyone who was still on the drowsy side. When she rode to the front to rejoin Mario, there were tears streaming down her face and she was still chuckling. He''d get the story from her when they went to bed that night. For now, seeing that everyone was fully awake, Mario picked up the pace.


    -----------------------


    The following seven days passed uneventfully. A pass Mario knew of that crossed the mountains between them and The City was still free of snow, which allowed them to shave two days off their trip.


    That night, Genie confirmed their expected arrival time with the trio. They''d hook up with the northwest road about two hours outside The CIty and, unless something unforeseen happened, they''d arrive at the Donnetti home right about lunch time.


    Yoko, of course, had shouldered her way in ahead of the others and informed Genie that a welcoming party was planned. Mostly it would consist of an outdoor buffet in the area between the two Donetti homes. With the high wall and trees encircling them blocking the view from the street, the children would be able to celebrate without being gawked at.


    The other reason was that Anna and Miranda had assumed that the children would find it less stressful if they met those they''d be living with in a more casual manner.


    Heidi had suggested that she, Stavros, and Consuela should be the ones who met them at the gate rather than unfamiliar adults.


    Mimi, who had been up and about in only four days, thanks to the trio feeding her energy, had been bustling about making sure that things were just so for almost two days. Everyone had compared notes, and nobody had ever seen her so excited.


    Truth be told, it was Anna who was the most excited of all. As she had only a single child, her son Alphonse, and then only after four miscarriages and one stillbirth, the prospect of having the house full of children had her almost ecstatic. Her pleasure was multiplied as Alphonse was only 10. With several of the children being close to him in age, Anna hoped that he would socialize more. It wasn''t that he was reclusive or had a problem like Jason''s. It was rather that he was usually so busy "designing" things, that he was rarely around other children. He wasn''t going to be able to avoid 13 others who were bouncing around the house.


    When told of the plans for the orphans, he complained about everyone being "packed together like pilgrims in a tiny inn."


    It was true that it was the smaller of the Donneti''s homes, But, after converting two large storerooms into bedrooms that could each sleep four comfortably, there was ample room for all 13 children.


    Those who knew Alphonse well could see that, in spite of his protests, he was almost excited as his mother.


    -----------------------


    When they arrived at The City, they were met at the north gate by Sergeant Rivers and two of her guardsmen. She walked along between Mario and Genie''s horses while one guardsman took a position 10 meters ahead of the group and one of them followed five meters behind. Each carried an orange and blue pennant on a pole signifying that this group was authorized to be riding horses inside The City.


    Upon first seeing the sergeant and the guards in their uniforms, a number of the children became nervous, wondering if somehow, after coming so far, they were going to be turned away. However, watching Sergeant Rivers chatting amicably with Mario and Genie soon resulted in them directing their nervous energy into craning their necks to take in all the sights. This City of The Bells was nothing at all like Metz. Every building was of stone, and most had a red tile roof.


    Something one and all soon realized, and approved of, was the fact that The City didn''t stink of dung.


    It seemed but moments later that their procession stopped at a wide gate in a wall between two large houses. The wall must have been about two and a half meters tall and was itself overtopped by the branches of bushy trees planted inside the wall. Those whose views were blocked soon had their question as to why they had stopped answered when they heard Heidi''s cheerful voice calling out, "What are you all waiting for? Get down off those horses, and come inside. There''s lots of food someone needs to eat."


    Saddles emptied so quickly it looked like the children had blinked off. Fortunately, Miranda had hired a number of hostlers to take the horses off to the Mule''s Tale for temporary stabling once the staff had brought in everyone''s packs. While the children had found riding interesting, and even fun at first, nearly six weeks in the saddle tends to dull your excitement. They were far more interested in eating, and meeting new people of course, but the meeting part was a distant, second thought for almost all of them.


    Mattie and Brigid spent most of their time watching those around them while they pretended to be absorbed in their food. They focused especially on one boy who circulated through the crowd introducing himself. Every time he came to someone new, he said, "Hi. My name is Alphonse, but going by it here is a bit pretentious, so please just call me ''George''." If that weren''t enough to remember him by, his clothes practically burned themselves into their memories.


    What he was wearing was of a decent cut, and fit him extremely well. However, both girls were willing to swear that in addition to every color in the rainbow, he was wearing other colors that had never before been seen by man. The combination was most generously described as ''hideous''.


    Mattie''s bodyguards also did their best not to stare overly long, though they were far more obvious. The combination of them trying to look disinterested yet staring at everything and everyone served as an excellent distraction while Mattie and Brigid made their observations of their new surroundings.


    Once they''d roughly sorted out who everyone was, their attention was drawn by a small group standing off to the side. It consisted of Mario, Genie, the woman who had been introduced to them as Sergeant Rivers, Mimi, and a boy whose name appeared to be Jacob or Jason. One of the younger kids had been shouting about something when they''d been introduced, and they''d only partially heard his name.


    Seeing a group of people talking was hardly anything suspicious. However, seeing all four of the adults acting in such a deferential manner toward the boy, who seemed to be no older than Brigid, had drawn their attention.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    When the adults finished speaking, the boy nodded, then his eyes went sorta fuzzy looking for a moment, after which he resumed talking to the others. While Mattie and Brigid were wondering what had just happened, two lovely young ladies, who also looked to be about Brigid''s age, passed by, walked up to the Jason/Jacob person, and took his arms. This time all three of them got the same fuzzy look to their eyes for about 15 seconds, after which they turned to look at the wing with speculation in their eyes.


    The trio then sauntered over to Mattie and Brigid and smiled. "I''m Jason Fukui, and these lovely ladies are Yoko - on my left - and Hibiki. We''ve been asked to talk to you two for a bit. It would be best if your shadows were out of earshot, though they may stay where they can watch, should you think it necessary."


    Brigid pondered briefly. They hadn''t been anywhere nearly so safe in over two years. She looked to Mattie, who nodded. Brigid made a small gesture with her hand, and the boys spread out, apparently to enjoy the offerings of food and the company.


    Their acting was truly third-rate, but it was sufficient to fool anyone who wasn''t watching very carefully, which almost nobody here was. It was, after all, primarily a celebration.


    Yoko grinned up at Brigid, "Mimi tells us that you six are on some kind of ''mission'' or something. I have no idea what she means, but it sounds like fun. So, will ya, maybe, tell us what it is ya need to do here, or who ya need ta meet or something like that?"


    Mattie looked at Mimi who nodded seriously and then turned back to making sure that the rest of the children were at least somewhat orderly.


    Mattie considered for a few moments, then nodded at Brigid, after which she sat on a nearby chair, then slowly and deliberately began to inhale an incredibly large cookie that she''d snagged somewhere.


    Brigid sighed. Oh well, it wasn''t like it was a secret any more, not if "Mimi" were here. She turned to the trio and was somewhat taken aback by their expressions. Yoko had 100% of her attention on Brigid and was leaning forward in anticipation. Jason was gazing at her with curious eyes and was rocking back and forth on his feet a little bit. Hibiki...well, yes. She hadn''t truly looked at Hibiki when they were being introduced as Yoko had drawn all of Brigid''s attention with her energetic speech.


    This Hibiki was, well, "other" was the best way she could put it. She smiled gently at first, with mild curiosity, and then, just for a moment, her expression became somehow demanding and her eyes revealed a previously concealed ferocity. Brigid blinked and Hibiki looked just as she had at first, enough so that, had Brigid been a lesser being, she might have convinced herself that what she''d just seen was her imagination.


    Things had gone from curious to curiouser. Her gaze flicked to Mattie, who looked back calmly while she continued nibbling at her cookie. Great, it was up to her.


    "Um, let''s see. The best way I can put it is that we''re here for training in certain procedures involving being, well, I guess ''scouts'' would be the best word. Frankly, none of us remember anything more than that, other than that Mattie will be in charge when she''d grown, and I''ll be her coordinator."


    Seeing blank looks she tried again, "Ah maybe you''d say it as her ''second-in-command'' or maybe ''executive officer''?"


    Seeing three nods, she motored on, "So other than finding this Master Hiroshi who taught Genie and Mario, and figuring out where to live and how, we don''t have any plans in particular."


    Suddenly all three of the trio''s faces were strangely expressionless. Brigid ignored that, at least for now, and asked, "You obviously know Mario and Genie. It might be some time before either Mattie or I can get time alone with them. They didn''t exactly explain, but it seems like they''re going to be extremely busy the next few days, so, ah, might you also know their Master Hiroshi?"


    Jason managed to keep his reaction to no more than a broad grin, but the girls were not nearly as restrained. They clapped their hands over their mouths to keep their laughter from drawing the attention of any of the others present. The resulting sound was something like a combination of a snorting, whistling, wheeze. Had it been any louder, it would have drawn far more attention than laughing. Fortunately they were able to control it to some extent.


    Brigid was tired, irritated, hungry, and the inside of her thighs were a constant agony. She''d ridden around the area as the village messenger in years past, but not more than an hour or maybe two at most, and she hadn''t ridden at all the previous two years. Unfortunately she was one of the people who never did become comfortable with riding for weeks on end, and she was moderately miserable at this point.


    She was about to deliver some rather pointed comments about making fun of strangers in public when Jason''s eyes suddenly widened. Then he put his hands on the twins'' shoulders. They stiffened and their laughter stopped like it had been shut off with a switch. The two of them turned toward Genie, who turned to look back with a question in her eyes. Moments later it was replaced by surprise, shock, embarrassment, and, finally, determination, after which she turned and said something to Mimi.


    Shortly thereafter Consuela materialized from out of the crowd. She strode over and stood next to Mattie. "I''ll keep watch, you go with them Brigid."


    The question of "Go with who?" flashed across Brigid''s mind, but it was answered immediately by Yoko and Hibiki each taking one arm and pulling her along after Genie who was striding determinedly toward the side of the Donetti annex where Anna''s family lived. She seemed to be heading directly at a blank wall, but, once they were within two meters, a door appeared that Brigid had somehow not seen previously.


    Once inside Genie walked down the hall, dragging her fingers lightly on the left hand wall. She stopped suddenly, muttered, "Here it is," and opened a door.


    Genie gave Brigid a look that was mostly embarrassed but also apologetic. "I''m SO SORRY that I didn''t notice how uncomfortable you were with all the riding. I assumed that, since you knew how and helped out the little ones, you wouldn''t get saddle sore.


    "At any rate, we can fix that, and we''re going to do it right now. Get inside. The spring here is several times as effective as the one in La Grande."


    Brigid was even more puzzled. What did the fact that this reputed healing spring worked well have to do with this room in the basement?


    Fortunately Yoko''s and Biki''s shoulders were touching and they felt her puzzlement.


    "Oh. that. Well, it''s like this, ya see. The law here says that water from the spring has ta be piped ta every single home in The City, whenever possible. Where it''s not, the nearest bathhouse must have it available. So, If you''re here..." Yoko waved her hand in an encompassing manner, "...there''s spring water ta help what ails ya no matter where in The City ya are."


    Biki and Yoko put their hands on Brigid''s back and pushed gently. "So get yerself inside. You''re walking like yer still riding."


    Genie nodded as they passed her, then turned and headed back outside. She had a number of things to do before she and Mario would be free to get cleaned up.


    Brigid was muzzy from everything that had happened the past few weeks, but she had enjoyed the baths at the Peddlar and at the inn in La Grande. The idea of soaking her aches sounded more than attractive, so she let herself be herded inside.


    What she saw was a pool that could comfortably hold around 10 people without any crowding. She also saw two people already there whom she didn''t know.


    Yoko pointed to some shelves. "Your clothes go there, then sit on one of the stools. Biki will wash your hair. The only person I''ve ever met who can do it better than her is Jason, but I seriously doubt that you want a guy you''ve just met in here with you. Right?"


    Brigid wasn''t sure she wanted to be there with all these women either, so her response to Yoko consisted of vigorous nodding.


    "Right then. Let''s get you ready. Once we''re in the bath, I''ll introduce ya to the others.


    While BIki was washing her hair, Brigid snuck an anxious peek at the two who were already in the bath. One was an older woman, approximately the same age as Genie''s mother. The other was about two years older than Genie and appeared extremely nervous. Every few seconds her eyes drifted to her right to look at the older woman, then her gaze snapped back to straight ahead. In addition her posture stiffened from relaxed to completely upright each time.


    Eventually the older woman smiled at both her companion and Brigid. "It''s all right dears. You''re doing just fine. I rarely get a chance to relax anywhere with congenial company who don''t want something from me. Frankly, I consider being here with all of you a bit of a reward.


    "I know that my reputation paints me a bit on the stern and unbending side, but, I promise you, I''m only that way with people who lie to me. Also, I''ve never, ever bitten someone when I was angry. You can ask Sergeant Rivers. She''ll back me up."


    "I''ll back you up with what Your Grace?"


    Brigid spun around to see that Sergeant Rivers had indeed entered the room and was looking at Duchess Henrietta with some asperity.


    Henrietta waved a negligent hand in no particular direction. "Oh you know Sandy. I don''t bite, and I''m not a frosty bitch to everyone. Things like that."


    The Sergeant opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted when Brigid, who was about to enter the pool, suddenly shouted, "OH MY GOD!," after which she stood at rigid attention...or at least she tried to. As she had one foot on the first step in the pool, what she managed to do was slip and make a spectacular splashing entry, landing on her back.


    She rose from the water, sputtering, and exclaimed, "I''m so sorry Your Grace. I didn''t know you were you! Ah, I mean, I''ve never seen you or even heard you described, Please forgive me and..."


    She was prevented from continuing by Henrietta standing and wrapping her arms about her. "Be at peace little one. I wasn''t kidding about this being a reward. Formality here is strictly forbidden."


    Turning to the sergeant she added, "There should be a law that says that it''s illegal to be formal when in the bath. If there isn''t, come up with something and I''ll sign it."


    Sandy gave a half bow. "Yes Your Grace. Of course Your Grace. And since that''s the case Your Grace, quit acting like an idiot and tell the poor girl why you arranged to meet her here rather than in The Residence."


    Looking Brigid up and down she said, "Besides, if you don''t let her go, I''m afraid she''s going to pass out. She hasn''t been breathing for almost 20 seconds."


    Henrietta disengaged herself and sat back down. "Sit yourself down girl. At least half the reason you made such an undignified entrance to the pool is because you''re so stiff. You need to soak it out before it gets any worse."


    She muttered under her breath, "It was a hoot watching it though."

 Vol 3 - Ch 28 Bath Time

    Brigid settled herself in the pool and soon realized that she was relaxing far more than she''d thought would be possible given how sore she had been.  In a few minutes she was nearly asleep.  She was roused by the sound of footsteps near the door.  Glancing in that direction she beheld Mattie and Consuela in the final stages of undressing.


    She was about to ask where the boys were, but Mattie spoke first, "The others have been relieved for now.  ''Suela consented to be my companion from the door to here.  Your job right now is to relax.  Gods know that you need it.


    "Frankly I''m more than a bit worn myself, which is why I''m going to join you."


    With that she put her clothes on a shelf and sat down to allow ''Suela to do her hair.  Once she had, Mattie did not enter the pool but rather walked around the outside, stopping right behind Priscilla, who had watched her with some degree of trepidation.


    Mattie patted Priss on the head, then put her palm on Henrietta''s brow so as to be completely private.  "There are some things we needs must discuss Ancient One, but it would be best if this little one in front of me were spared additional worry.  She''s wound as tight as a spring already."


    Henrietta nodded and took Priss'' hand.  "Thank you for your help today dear, and for all the aid you''ve given us in the past as well.  You look like you''re getting overheated, so why don''t you go on back to the Mule''s Tale.  If you ''see'' anything else I need to know about, just have Alicia send a message, like always."


    Priss smiled her gratitude and left a bit more briskly that would normally be proper, but, given who was in the room at that time, she could be forgiven for the rapidity of her departure.


    Once she was gone, Mattie spoke to everyone who remained, "This is a most interesting room.  There is some sort of spell here that partially lifts the constraints on our true personalities.  Perhaps one day it would be worth investigating."


    She shrugged her shoulders.  "No matter, though it makes things easier for the nonce.  If I read it correctly, we''ll remember the general outline of what we decide here when we leave, though probably not any of the details relating to our various missions."


    She looked to Henrietta.  "If you have no objections Ancient One, may I begin?"


    Henrietta waved a negligent hand, ignoring the reactions of the others in the room to Mattie''s mode of address.


    "My thanks.  To put it simply, my wing and I are here to hone our skills in skulking, skulduggery, and surreptitious sneakiness.  To be frank, we''re a relatively new group.  Two of us are barely 50 years old, and we need a lot of work yet..  Normally I wouldn''t have allowed such youngsters to enlist, but it was their ability to keep secrets that convinced me.  Learning to keep one''s mouth shut is much harder than learning proper combat skills.


    "It appears that this Master Hiroshi is the trainer we need for the latter.  How we find him, and where we reside I shall leave in your hands.  Whatever other skills and/or knowledge we must learn, will, I presume, present themselves as time passes."


    She turned to Brigid.  "Have I left anything out Second?"


    Brigid shook her head "no."


    Yoko spoke into the momentary silence, "Finding Master Hiroshi will be the easiest part, seeing as he''s Biki''s and my father."


    She grinned at Mattie.  "I imagine we can manage to track him down if ya want."


    Before Mattie could respond Biki interrupted, "Ah, Mattie.  How is it you can talk into the minds of everyone here at once?"


    Henrietta raised a hand, stopping Mattie from answering.  "It''s an effect from the spell on the room.  For now you have other, more important things to pursue."


    Biki nodded her head in acquiescence.  She didn''t agree, but she was well aware of what the consequences would be if a child her age disagreed with a Duchess.


    Henrietta gently clapped her hands together.  "Now that that''s settled, we need to deal with your housing.  It should be somewhere you can easily walk to school from, and near Hiroshi Macklin''s ''dojo''.  An odd name that, but apparently it''s what they call such training facilities in Japan.


    "Not so surprisingly, the best location for all that is here, which is what has already been planned.  Your host, Anna Donetti, is thrilled."


    She leaned forward and spoke, as if sharing a secret.  "She had four miscarriages, and a stillbirth before Alphonse was born, and she''s still suffering from the loss.  Having the 13 of you around will likely have her feeling as if those children have in some way come back to her.


    "Besides, you won''t find anywhere else in The City that can immediately meet all your requirements.  With such a high wall around the buildings, and all the trees blocking the view from the neighbor''s homes, you''ll even have room to practice without prying eyes watching you."


    Mattie nodded.  "That should do nicely.  She''s a good soul.  I could feel it when we were introduced."


    She paused a few seconds then added, as if to herself, "Besides, with us living here, it''ll be easier to get Alphonse to fall in love with me and not some flashy woman who momentarily catches his fancy."


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.    She nodded.  "Yes that would be best.  I doubt that simply telling him that we''re to be married when I''m grown would go down very well."


    Brigid sprang to her feet, ignoring the protests of her thighs.  "What!  You and that popinjay peacock.  Married!  Are you out of your mind?!"


    Mattie turned to Brigid and drawled, "Interesting.  I don''t recall that I asked for you opinion.  Would you care to amend your comment Second?"


    Brigid managed to make a few incoherent sounds before she clapped both her hands over her mouth, bowed, then sat down and stared at the surface of the water.


    Mattie nodded.  "I thought not.  Besides, he''s only acting like that out of loneliness.  By the time we''ve been here for a few weeks, he won''t be lonely any more.  Not then, nor ever again."


    She turned to Yoko and Hibiki.  "Alphonse has exquisite design sense, but has no idea how to properly dress individuals.  That''s primarily because he''s color blind.  Your Jason is better at dressing someone well than anyone I''ve ever known, in any lifetime that I can remember.  If the three of us can arrange for Alphonse and your Jason to open a shop together once they''re grown, the profit is likely to be staggering."


    At first the twins'' response was stunned silence.  That was quickly followed by expressions of calculation and, to be honest, greed.


    Mattie turned to Henrietta and bowed, deeply.  "I believe that we''ve covered the topics that needed to be addressed immediately.  Is there anything else we should discuss Ancient One?"


    Henrietta scowled at Mattie.  "I''m getting really and seriously fed up with all the titles.  First it was Sandy there ''Your Gracing'' me till I thought I''d puke, and now you''re going overboard with this ''Ancient One'' crap.  We''re in the bath for crying out loud.  Can''t you just let it go and call me ''Dot'', at least while we''re private?"


    Mattie and Sandy exchanged a glance.  They didn''t say anything, but there was a sudden twinkle in their eyes.  They turned as one toward Henrietta, bowed, and intoned, "Not while we''re on duty Your Graceful Ancient One."


    There was not even the tiniest of snickers from the twins, Brigid, or Consuela.  It might have been due to their incredible self-control, or perhaps it was because they had all accidentally lost their balance, which resulted in their heads slipping under the water.  Said slipping was followed by large streams of bubbles rising to the surface from the general vicinity of their mouths.


    Henrietta bestowed a thoroughly disgusted look on the room, then stalked to the dressing area, dried herself, and put on her clothes.  She turned her head and looked over her shoulder at the sergeant.  "I''m going outside to mingle.  When I''m finished you may escort me back to The Residence."


    She turned away, then turned back and added, "And if you say a single word to your brother, in ''twin'' or otherwise about what just happened, you''ll regret it for a very long time.  I don''t care if he is my husband.  There are some things that are NOT meant to be shared.  Capice?"


    Sandy nodded with a perfectly straight face.  Not only that, she managed to restrain her laughter for a full 10 seconds after Henrietta had left.


    ------------------


    When Brigid surfaced, she began to stand, only to find Mattie behind her leaning on her shoulders.  "You are not to exit the bath until this Dr. Kaho we have heard about approves.  I don''t know about the others, but I saw how raw your thighs are when you fell into the water."


    Mattie shook her head in disgust.  "Temporarily neglecting an injury, when it won''t compromise a mission in progress, is one thing.  Neglecting your body where there is no such need is almost criminal, which is one of the reasons why you are my Second rather than in charge of your own wing."


    Turning to the twins she asked, "How long will it be until your sister-in-law arrives?  Do not worry if she is involved with something and we must wait for some time.  It is not as if we have someplace we must immediately go."


    Biki replied, "Not long at all.  She was already here in case someone else was coming down with an illness such as Heidi had."


    Her words were followed almost immediately by the door opening and an extraordinarily tall woman entering.  She didn''t bother to introduce herself but rather said only, "Which of you is my patient?"


    She scanned the faces, and when her eyes landed on Bridig she said, "I see.  Come out for a moment, and let me see your legs."


    Brigid complied, Kaho pointed to a nearby stool, and Brigid sat, after which Kaho snorted in disgust, "I can''t see your thighs if your knees are together.  I care not how embarrassed you are.  I can''t treat what I can''t see.  Move."


    Just before Brigid followed her directions, Kaho turned to the others and said, with some asperity, "The rest of you turn around.  Just because I need to see doesn''t mean that you should be so rude just to satisfy your curiosity."


    Five flushed faces took up an intimate study of the wall on the other side of the room.  Kaho nodded, pushed Brigid''s knees a bit further apart and pursed her lips.  "How in the world could you ride like that?  Another two days, three at most, and you''d have had an infection in both of them.


    "No matter.  Back in the bath.  Another half hour now, then thirty minutes twice a day.  I''ll check you again in four days.  You are to tell Mimi if this worsens rather than improves.  If you don''t, I''ll be upset.  You don''t want me upset, do you?"


    Having a scowling giant looming over you is a most effective way of ensuring compliance.  Brigid shook her head vigorously and hurriedly resumed her seat in the pool.


    Kaho nodded, waved her arm at the room, then left.


    When she''d somewhat recovered her composure, Brigid asked, "Is she always like that.  So, ah...so...."


    Yoko grinned and asked, "Scary?"


    Brigid nodded.  "Yes, that.  Exactly."


    Yoko chuckled.  "Only if you''ve done something incredibly stupid and make her work harder than she needs to."


    Then, with great seriousness, "She works much too hard as it is.  If she didn''t have a team to support her with the hard cases, she''d probably work herself to death before she''s 30.  This past year she''s learned how to depend on others when she can''t handle things by herself without getting worn out.  Her preceptor, Dr. Kastner, says that she''ll probably live her normal lifespan ''If she doesn''t forget and behave like a first-year student'' very often.''"


    Brigid sat in stunned silence.  She''d had no idea that a doctor could die of overwork.  After a while she realized how silly such a thought was.  People in other occupations did exactly that on a regular basis, especially farmers.


    As she sat there, an idea began to percolate through her mind.  This Dr. Kaho had healed Heidi of pneumonia, which, if it didn''t kill you, usually meant weeks in bed.  She''d also seemed to know exactly what was wrong with Brigid with just a glance.  Every hand of six Wings needed a medic.  Perhaps she might train for that position.


    Her thoughts became less focused as she relaxed completely for the first time in almost three years.


    Mattle nodded slightly.  They''d only been in The City for a little less than two hours, yet things were well begun.  She smiled at Brigid gently and closed her eyes.  She was feeling more than worn herself.  There would soon be a number of things to begin, and she''d need her strength, especially as most of her memories would again be shut down once they left the room.  She shrugged her shoulders.  She''d volunteered for this, as had they all.  No matter how difficult the job, "Mattie" always pushed through till it was finished, which was why she had long ago earned her nickname: "The Adamant Missile."

 Vol 3 - Ch 29 Oh no! I Completely Forgot!!

    When everyone was ready to rejoin the party, they left the room with some degree of reluctance.  By the time they were outside, they were struggling to remember...something important.  Seconds later they had forgotten that there even was something to remember, shrugged their collective shoulders, and rejoined the festivities.


    Outside things were winding down.  While having a party was exciting and, for most of the children, it was the first one they''d ever been to, they''d been riding for nearly six weeks and were beyond tired.  Mimi decided that it was times to wrap things up.


    "All right everyone.  Pay attention!  It''s time to get settled in to your new rooms.  But first, baths are needed.  I doubt seriously that you want to live in rooms smelling like horses, so I want you to divide yourselves into groups.  The boys go over to Stavros.  He''s going to lead you to the bath in the his aunt''s home.  The girls gather around ''Suela.  She''ll take you to the bath in her home."


    She bent her head in thought for a moment then lifted it and said, "It''ll be tiring for everyone if you call her Mrs. Donetti all the time, especially as there are three Mrs. Donetti''s here.  If she is agreeable, you should call your host ''Aunt Anna''."


    She turned and faced Anna.  "If that is agreeable with you Mrs. Donetti?"


    Anna beamed.  It wasn''t just agreeable.  She was thrilled.


    Mimi smiled and nodded back.  "All right.  Everyone get into your groups.  After your baths you''ll be able to settle into your new rooms.  Once you''ve explored them, the house, and gotten lost a few times, it should be about time for dinner."


    The children gathered without a fuss.  They were overstuffed, tired, and also very excited about seeing their new rooms.  As they were about to head off to their respective houses, Yoko charged in shouting, "Hey!  You two boys.  You belong with the other group.  Don''t go in with the girls."


    Hibiki, who was speaking to Consuela turned to her sister.  "What are you talking about.  Everyone here is a girl."


    Yoko stomped her foot and waved her arms.  "Are you crazy?  How could you possibly mistake these two guys for girls?"  As she was speaking, she pointed to Gertie and then Feliz.


    Biki glared at Yoko.  "I have not made a mistake.  They''re obviously girls."


    Gertie and Feliz looked at each other without speaking.  Those nearby could see that both were confused and embarrassed by the unwarranted accusation.


    Yoko was loud enough that Sara''s attention was drawn to the group.  As she looked at them, she nodded.  Yoko was right.  The two taller children were definitely boys.  She had no idea what was going on, but she intended to find out and marched herself in that direction.


    Once she reached about five meters away, she stopped short as she ran into a powerful wall of magic.  She found herself rocking back and forth as she tried to catch her balance.  As she did so she was astonished to see that when she was leaning forward, the two children were definitely girls, but as she fell backwards and landed on her bottom, she could see that they were boys.


    What in the world?!


    "What''s wrong Sara?  Are you OK?"


    Paolo was hurrying toward her with a worried expression.


    She held up a hand to stop him.  "I''m fine, but I need your mother, and I need her right now!  Something is horribly wrong."


    He spun on his heel and ran over to his mother who was facing the other direction and standing next to Anna.  They had their arms about each other''s waists and their heads were touching as they spoke to their husbands.  Paolo had never noticed before, but Anna was just as tall as Miranda.  No wonder so many people mistook them for twins when they were younger.


    Hearing his footsteps approaching, Miranda turned her head toward Paolo and mouthed, "What?"


    Paolo slid to a stop, pointed to Sara, who was still sitting on the grass, but now had her head in her hands, he said, "Help!"


    For once Miranda didn''t bother to pretend she was walking.  She hitched up her skirt and ran to Sara.  "What''s wrong?"


    As she stepped in front of Sara so as to see her face, she encountered the magic field herself.  Oh my God!  What in the world?  Whatever it was, it was powerful, and it felt...strange.


    She spun around and invoked her mage sight.  The field was emanating from the vicinity of the necks of two of the new children, probably pendants given the location, and it had an odd flavor.  It tasted like nothing she''d encountered before, but its action was clear.  It was a kind of negation spell.  She pushed some of her power against it.


    Astonishing.  It did only one thing, but it was doing it exceedingly well.  The stipulation for the spell was that anyone seeing those wearing the pendants would sense that those wearing them were not male.  Oddly it wasn''t designed to make one think that they were female, but, if they weren''t male, most people would instantly assume "female," and the result was the same.


    It was the strangest way to build a spell that she''d ever seen, but it was working, all too well.


    Miranda walked slowly forward.  She didn''t want to frighten the children more than they already were.  When she reached Gertie and Feliz, she patted them on the head.  "I''m sorry.  You must be confused by all this."


    As she was speaking she let her hands drop, slowly, and gently put her palms over the pendants.   She realized that the spell had probably been cast by someone without proper training.  It was balanced on a knife edge.  Even a tiny amount of extra power would make it collapse and dissipate.


    Combining action with her realization, she gave the spell a bit of a nudge, after which everyone within five meters, other than Yoko, collapsed.


    While everyone was still muzzy, Miranda cast a minor binding, blunting any desire those in the area might have to ask what was going on.  Once everyone had settled in for a few days, she''d ask Archbishop Comfort to come help her unravel...whatever it was.  After her mistake of trying to sort out Sara''s abilities by herself, she wasn''t about to meddle with this on her own.  Just thinking of what Lucina might do to her if she did made her break out in a cold sweat.


    As the children began to gather themselves together Miranda cooed, "Oh you poor things! You must be more tired than we''d thought.  ''Suela, you''d best get them into the bath right away."


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    She turned her head slightly, "Hibiki.  You''re looked a bit pale yourself.  Why don''t you join them?  Yoko and I will help tidy up here."


    Having already bathed, Mattie and Brigid were by the buffet, finally having something to eat.  Brigid began to move forward, intending to ask what had just happened.  She was restrained by Mattie reaching up and taking ahold of her sleeve.  When Brigid turned to look at her, Mattie gently shook her head "no."


    Yoko and Miranda helped Sara to her feet, then Miranda asked, "Are you feeling OK dear?"


    Sara nodded.  Looking casually around the area she noted a few anxious faces and about twice the number who looked curious.  Smiling slightly to reassure the watchers, she whispered, "When?"


    Miranda replied, "Probably in a few days.  I''ll ask Lucina to supervise."


    "Ah.  That sounds good.  I''ll clear my schedule for whatever day you decide on."


    Unexpectedly Yoko interjected, "It must be after we get home from school.  I shall need to be there as well."


    Miranda turned, intending to give Yoko a bit of instruction as to why children don''t make demands of adults more than twice their age.  What she saw was her second shock of the past few minutes.  Yoko said nothing more, but rather stood entirely still, totally relaxed, and without expression.  Her gaze was neither challenging nor defensive.  It was like Miranda was staring at a stone wall.


    Miranda''s intended reprimand turned into, "Ah... Yes.  Of course.  I''ll let you know when we set a time."


    Yoko nodded.  "I shall arrange for Biki and Jason to be busy."


    She sketched a bow, said, "Until then," and walked away.


    Miranda turned to Sara, "Did you see...."


    "Indeed I did.  It will be interesting to see where this thread leads."  Sara was thrilled.  The people in her life were stranger, and much more interesting, than she had ever imagined when she was a child.


    -----------------


    The orphans had no such thoughts.  They were far more interested in getting their baths and then exploring what was, to them, a massive house.  The boys of Mattie''s wing took one of the converted storerooms, and the five other girls took the second.  It had been planned for one of the older girls to have a room to herself, but none of them wanted to be alone.


    Anna was worried that they might feel cramped if they were all together, but, after ''Suela took her aside and explained where they had lived in Metz, Anna instantly agreed, and they managed to shoehorn a small bed between the two sets of bunk beds in the larger of the converted storerooms.


    Brigid and Mattie asked to use the room next to Alphonse''s, which Anna had originally planned on having two of the boys use, as she was unsure about girls wanting to use a room next to a boy''s.  Fortunately their request suited her long-term goals better anyway.  While Anna was almost fully engaged in the family jewelry store, Journey''s End, she still practiced the family trade of spying.


    She''d quickly noticed that both Brigid and Mattie were girls who saw no reason to defer to boys just because they were male, which was a good part of the reason why she agreed to the room change.  It would do Alphonse good to see how girls both younger and older than he was acted when they weren''t trying to impress anyone.  Like most boys, he had rather unrealistic ideas about how girls "ought" to behave.  Seeing these two regularly should correct his erroneous impressions rather quickly.


    The two boys from La Grande took the remaining two person room.  Stavros conspired to be with them when they arrived and asked, "Ah.  Look.  I wasn''t with you all when you joined the group, so I, ah, didn''t catch your names."


    The eldest pointed to himself,  "I''m Kurt Farina."  Pointing to his sib he said, "My brother here is Sandro."


    Stavros grinned, "Got it.  I''ll make sure that anyone else who might not have caught them finds out.  Otherwise you''re going to have dozens of people asking you, and you''re going to get worn out from answering so often."


    "Thanks.  We''re really not used to being around so many people.  I''m told that our village was rather large as such things go, but neither of us had any idea of just how big a town we were coming to.  To tell the truth, it''s more than a little scary."


    Chuckling, Stav responded, "Heh.  I have trouble dealing with people in villages.  Make one mistake and everyone knows about it.  Here, no matter how badly you screw up, you don''t have to be embarrassed every time you see someone."


    "I never thought of that.  You''re right about everyone in a village knowing what''s going on.  I think it''s going to be nice to be semi-anonymous now."


    Sandro nodded his agreement with his older brother.


    Kurt pointed to him.  "He doesn''t talk as much as I do.  That''s cause he''s usually listening.  No matter what was going on in La Grande, he learned about it eventually.  Which, I guess, makes your point."


    Stav smiled in response.  When his mother heard about Sandro, she''d likely recruit him as soon as she could finagle it.  She was always complaining about not having enough "reliable younglings" working for her.


    After that the three of them chatted about not much of any import.  It was more to get better acquainted than anything else.  Eventually Stav excused himself,  "So you can get settled in."  There wasn''t really much of anything for them to put away, given how little they had, but it was a good excuse for him to leave and let them relax a bit before dinner.


    Interlude


    Up until three days earlier, food had been the last thing on Anna''s mind.  Her neglect of that issue was, unsurprisingly, brought to mind by Mimi.  As they were putting linens on the bunk beds Sven had retrieved from somewhere or other, Mimi asked, "I assume arrangements have been made for the extra staff you''ll need once the children arrive?"


    "Huh?  What staff?"


    "The staff you''re going to need if you don''t want piles of trash, dirty laundry, and rotten food lying around within two days of their arrival.  You certainly can''t continue doing the cooking and cleaning yourself.  I can see why you and Mr. Donetti took care of that with just the three of you, but neither of you has the time, or the skill to manage it for 16."


    Anna sat down heavily on one of the beds.  "Oh my GOD!  I totally forgot.  What in the world am I going to do?  You can''t find reliable help and get them properly trained to function in a new household in only three days.  It takes several weeks."


    Mimi smiled.  She loved looking like she was always prepared for everything.  She wasn''t going to admit to anyone that it was Ailin who had pointed out a week ago, with an overly superior attitude I might add, that staff needed to be hired.


    "Please do not worry yourself Madame Donetti.  With you''re permission, may I introduce you to some prospects."


    "Ah, yes.  Of course.  When?"


    "Would right now suit?"


    Anna looked gobsmacked.  Mimi hid her "Ah ha! Put one over on you!" smile, turned, and opened the door of the room.  Four people filed in.


    "May I introduce you to Celia  Zangari, Gemma Hopkins, and Terza Constantine.  Celia is one of the finest cooks ever to have lived in The City.  Nico here is her son and her apprentice.  He is also trained to serve in the dining room.


    "Gemma and Terza are superior maids, unusually so given that they are only 18 and 22."


    Mimi smiled at them.  "They are also my cousins.  I''ve found that hiring family, if they are competent, is almost always better than retaining a stranger who might have problems they''re hiding during an interview."


    She nodded to herself  "The four of them should suffice at the beginning.  In addition to their schooling, the children need to learn how to properly take care of their rooms, which will significantly reduce the work for your staff in that area.  Given that, you''ll have ample time to decide how many additional staff you may need, if any.  Should you decide that more are needed, I shall be pleased to assist you in seeking them out, if you wish."


    All four of them looked at Anna with varying degrees of anticipation and nervousness.  Anna was stunned and didn''t begin to rouse until she saw Mimi''s suspiciously bland face.  So, it was like that was it?


    "All right.  You''re all hired, provisionally.  However, if you''re half as good as Mimi says, you''ll be offered permanent positions."


    Turning to Mimi.  "All right you duplicitous schemer.  You brought them here, so you show them around.  Though I strongly suspect that their things are already in their rooms in the servant''s quarters."


    She stood and smoothed the front of her smock.  "Which I''m going to avoid going into for the next several hours.  I''ve already had enough shocks for the day.  I don''t need another from finding out that I''m right and that it''s our ''servants'' who truly run our households."


    Anna waved a hand at the four of them and smiled.  "Off with you.  We''ll have more than aplenty of time to get to know each other.  I''m going to stay here for a while and let my mind catch up with what just happened."

 Vol 3 - Ch 30 New Routine and a Few Surprises

    Dinner was subdued chaos.  The children, the Donetti''s, and the staff were all in the earliest stages of getting acquainted, both with each other and their home.    Fortunately the kids were all so tired from traveling for such a long time, and from pushing so hard to beat the bad weather, that they didn''t have the energy to cause any major problems.


    The children were all in bed by 8:30, and sound asleep by 9:00.  Most were awakened, briefly, at about 2 a.m. by a loud noise.  The muted sound of ongoing distant thunder was followed by a torrential downpour.  Even though the thunder was scary, they were all together, warm, clean, and well-fed.  Those who were frightened burrowed under their blankets (They had real blankets!) and soon fell asleep.


    Morning found them well rested, somewhat stiff, but ready to face the day, not to mention breakfast.  There was a delicious scent drifting up from the kitchen.  The littlest wanted to rush right down, but the older children insisted on them at least washing their faces and putting on clean clothes first.  After that, all of them hurried down to see what kind of feast was awaiting them.


    What they saw was beyond their expectations.  It wasn''t that there were lots and lots of fancy dishes.  Everything was simply prepared.  There was, however, enough to fill even those with the biggest appetites.  Anna had assumed that in that one thing, all children were probably like Alphonse.  A filling breakfast would probably keep them calm, at least for a little while.  That would give the tutors she and Miranda had hired time to start sorting them out and get a rough idea of what subjects they''d need the most help with as they caught up in school.


    With the oldest children, they would also need to determine if they were more interested in pursuing a trade rather than continuing with a classroom education once they reached the age of 14.  Once that was done, they could make further plans.


    Most everyone was surprised to find that Mattie could read as well as most nine or 10 year old kids.  Brigid though was about two years behind what those in The City would expect of someone her age.  It was Sara who was chosen to pursue that particular problem as she had an uncanny knack of helping calm even the most nervous and defensive people.


    Brigid was both.  What Sara eventually discovered was that, as the eldest child in the village, Brigid had been kept so busy running errands that she had almost no time for any kind of studying.  What she knew, she''d picked up from reading the few books they had that were meant for younger children.


    Once she''d learned that, Sara added Brigid to her classes with Heidi.  While there was a world of difference in their current levels of education, both had an intense drive to learn.  Besides, given Heidi''s desire to become a teacher, Sara decreed that the best way for her to start learning to teach was by tutoring someone like Brigid who was what one could call "smart but deprived."   Sara would be in the room to help with whatever problems arose, but she''d made it plain privately that she expected Heidi to manage, for the most part, on her own.  She could ask Sara all the questions she wanted about techniques, but she had to do so outside the "classroom," just as a real teacher would.


    Sara had, at first, been worried about how Brigid would respond, what with Heidi being two years younger than she was.  Fortunately Brigid turned out to be one of those rare people who didn''t care where she found the information she wanted to learn.  What mattered to her was that it existed, no matter the source.


    For the most part Heidi didn''t teach Brigid but rather helped her figure out how to find for herself what she needed to know.  Yes, she did help with reading but, unknowingly, used the same technique as Miranda.  She had Brigid read out loud and helped her with the words she didn''t know or had trouble pronouncing.  Watching the two girls confirmed Sara''s initial intuition about Heidi.  Her techniques were closer to those of a guide than a teacher.  She''d likely be well suited for library work.


    In the process, the two became fast friends, something which Brigid had never had before.  Soon she found herself spending most of her time with Heidi and Consuela, even when she wasn''t studying.  She''d been reluctant at first but had readily aceeded to Mattie''s "suggestion" that since they were now in a large city, with "family" and the Guard and  the Militia watching out for them, she didn''t need to hover over Mattie all the time.


    Mattie managed to hold in her grin as she watched Brigid scurry off to meet with the others.  While she wasn''t entirely sure why, she felt that it was important that Brigid learn to socialize well with others her own age.  Mattie yearned to be able to access the memories she was sure were in her mind, somewhere, but, as always, she was unsuccessful.


    Oh well.  One never gets everything one wants.  Besides, with Brigid not constantly underfoot, Mattie was free to enjoy being a child, something she''d not been able to do previously.  She quite enjoyed romping with the other younger kids when they had playtime.  Like Sara had done years before, she avoided showing off how smart she was.  Making others look dumb was definitely not a nice thing to do, and, besides, it never hurt to have others underestimate you.  She wasn''t sure why she believed that, but it felt right, so that''s what she did.


    After a month, everyone had settled into a routine that, while still somewhat chaotic at times, worked reasonably well.  Everyone''s strengths and weakness had been assessed.  The primary school for the younger children had been involved in the planning since the second week.  When the children began actual classes, the transition was, for the most part, remarkably smooth.


    Thus far only Heidi, Kurt, Sandro, and Brigid were old enough for secondary school, and all were enrolled at Chapman.  For various reasons, Brigid was placed in the same class as Heidi.  It was explained to the other students that neither of the girls had been able to attend school for two years, for unspecified reasons.  The teacher, Mr. Sandoval, made it clear that both he, and Mrs. Krait, the headmaster, would be displeased if any of the students pestered the girls to find out details of their pasts.


    Sara had met with both Mr. Sandoval and Mrs. Krait several times as they worked out a plan to get both girls back on track with their educations.  When they''d finished, all three were reasonably certain that, when the new school year began in June, the girls would probably be mostly caught up.  What remained to be done at that time would be worked out during Spring Break.


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    Kurt and Sandro, having attended the village school regularly, were nearly up to standard already and were judged to only need minimal extra help.


    -----------------------


    Near the end of that first month, Miranda introduced Archbishop Comfort to Kurt and Sandro.  The archbishop wore regular work clothing and was introduced as one of Miranda''s teachers who had volunteered to help with the orphans.  As a number of people had been rotating through in a similar capacity, the boys thought nothing of it.


    Miranda drafted them to help her, Yoko, Sara, and the Archbishop move some needed supplies into the kitchen.  In the process they gradually obtained the boys'' story.  An hour later the boys were dismissed, with thanks, and they went to their room to do their homework.


    After the boys left, there was total silence in the room for over a minute.  It was Lucina who finally spoke.  "If I hadn''t heard it directly from them, and had your report of what happened, I''d have said that it wasn''t possible.  How their mother managed a complete personality overlay that affected not just them but everyone around them is something I''d...well, I have no idea how you''d even begin such a spell.


    Manda, you said that it was brittle and it took almost no effort to break it, right?"


    Miranda nodded.  "I see where you''re going.  At least I think I do.  It was incredibly strong, but its anchors were like vapor.  I''m surprised that it wasn''t disrupted by the energy of the first lightning bolt that struck anywhere within a mile of them."


    Yoko spoke up, softly, and in a much more measured way than her usual.  "You''re both forgetting something."


    She lifted her face to look at them.  "You''re two of the most powerful mages The City has seen in the last 300 years, but power doesn''t necessarily mean that you can''t be stuck mentally."


    Grinning wryly at them she continued, "I''m not excluding myself from that.  I''ve let my mind get in my way a few times as well."


    She took a big breath and sighed.  "But that''s not germane to the current situation.  What you both missed is how much power there is when something is done as one''s final expression of love when one is dying.  Granted, their mother was rather deranged what with thinking that her boys were the reincarnation of the twin girls she''d miscarried a year before they were born.


    "That''s another lesson, and it''s more than a bit frightening.  You don''t have to be in your right mind to cast a scarily powerful spell.


    "Bah.  I''m getting as distracted as Jason does sometimes.  Anyway, the point is that she''d always believed that they were girls, she wanted everyone else to believe as she did, and to treat them kindly.  If it hadn''t been for their father calling them by their proper names and treating them as males until they were 10, I don''t know what would have happened to their minds.


    "It''s clear that they don''t remember living as girls, but I''ll leave it to you to sort that out.  I have absolutely no skill in that arena.  If we just treat them as we would any other boys their age, it''ll probably work out.  I hope.


    "Anyway.  I''ve said my piece, so it''s time for me to get back to being my usual self.  Thank you for including me.  Besides, I have a date with Jason and Biki at Brewster''s.  They''re going to study, and I''m going to play."


    A huge grin split her face.  "It''s gonna be SOOOO much fun!  Bye."


    So saying, she turned and scurried out of the kitchen leaving two befuddled women staring after her.


    Miranda spoke first, "Master. I''m not entirely sure I can handle this.  I already knew that Mimi was, let''s say: ''different''.  Then it was Stavros and Consuela.  And now...now it''s Yoko too.  I''m afraid to ask what she meant when she said she was going to ''play'' at a bookstore.  I suppose it''s got to be something to do with that huge dome inside whatever, or wherever, it is, don''t you think?"


    She continued with a somewhat desperate tone, "Isn''t there anyone in the entire city who is just an ordinary, normal human?"


    Lucina shook her head and chuckled.  "Oh?  And in what way are YOU an ''ordinary, normal human''?  You have an extraordinarily strong gift for magery, so I don''t think you qualify either.  Then there''s Alicia at the Mule''s Tale.  She''s only in her 20''s but she and Aldus own three inns and two stables...so far."


    Miranda, her spirit somewhat restored whispered, "Don''t forget that new, clandestine courier business they started this last spring Master."


    Then she let her head drop.  "Though I don''t know who their silent partners are...yet."


    Lucina smiled.  She might be "officially" retired from the spying business, but she kept her personal organization active, just in case.  It probably wouldn''t be politic to tell Miranda that it was her own parents who were the partners.  At least not when Miranda was so stressed.  Later though, when she needed a swelled head punctured...


    "The City, and the world in general, are filled with extraordinary people doing extraordinary things Manda.  When I unexpectedly run into someone like that, I tell myself that whatever I''ve just seen is a quirk of someone''s personality, just part of the whole that I''ve not seen before.  Whomever it is is still the same person I''ve always known."


    Grinning at Manda she added, "If I do it often enough, I can usually start to convince myself that it''s true and maintain my sanity."


    Miranda stared at her, shrugged her shoulders, and finished stowing the last of the supplies the boys had carried it.  There was a lot yet to do today.  She''d think about what happened later.  Probably much later...she hoped.


    Sara slipped out the door without saying a word or making a sound.  It looked as if the others had completely forgotten that she was there, which suited her just fine.  They appeared to have forgotten her ability to mask her presence, and she had no desire to remind them of it.  All in all, it had been a most memorable day.


    ----------------------------------


    Excellent!  Blue smiled and nodded.  Even allowing for her extraordinarily long life expectancy, for a human anyway, Miranda was much too young to be so rigid in her beliefs.  Another crack or two in her "I know everything" shell would do her good, as well as leave room for some new ideas to seep in.


    She snorted.  Hah.  Look who was talking.  If you''d told Blue a week earlier what the boys'' mother had done, she''d have said it was impossible too.  Unlike Miranda, she enjoyed change and new ideas.  They were especially welcome to one such as she who had lived not just hundreds of years but hundreds of eons.  It was all well and good to charge ahead toward your goals, but you needed to stop and look at the scenery now and then, or you''d end up about as flexible as a chunk of granite.


    OK.  That was enough figurative flower viewing.  She had lots to do, starting with checking in with her agents on Earth IV.  Coordinating their efforts with those here on Earth VI was critical.  Over the next few hundreds of years they needed to arrange for some events to be synchronized within a week, which was becoming more difficult lately.  She''d been getting hints for the past millennium or so that the enemy was on the verge of beginning to suspect that some sort of plan was being aimed at him.


    Fortunately, that also was within her predictions.  He ALWAYS suspected that someone or something was plotting against him...not that he was wrong.  Her hope was that, given the magnitude of some of the other plots, the first stirrings of hers beginning to come together would seem insignificant by comparison and not worth his direct attention.


    She slapped herself gently on her cheeks.  Focus!  Forget about what might be and get on with what is.  Yeah.  Charge ahead.  She''d have plenty of time for her doubts and worries when she was trying to get to sleep, just like every night.  Yahoo....

 Vol 3 - Ch 31 Decisions

    There were very few problems as they moved into the second month after the children arrived.  Prospective parents gradually rotated through as either tutors, volunteers, or both.  The Donetti families made sure that someone from any occupation that the children expressed an interest in was among them.


    Some of the eventual matches were more than surprising.  One of the most unusual pairings was between Jackie Segreti, The City''s only female swordsmith, and one of the older girls.  She was definitely on the frail side, but had insisted on accompanying the boys who were, or thought that they were, interested in smithing.


    Once they saw how hard the work was, and after lifting a few of the hammers, all the boys bowed their thanks and left.  However, "little Flora" stayed until she had to be taken by the hand and led home so as not to miss dinner.


    Her only comment when asked how the day had gone was "interesting."  The other girls shrugged.  She was like that.  She might not say more than a dozen words in a day, then, like a tap being opened suddenly, she''d start talking about whatever was on her mind and would keep going until her mouth got too dry for her to continue.


    After that day, Flora spent as much time as possible with Jackie at her forge.  Her twin, Isobel doubted that she''d find smithing interesting, but it was difficult for her to be away from her sister for more than a few hours, so she began to spend time at Jackie''s shop too.  It took her all of 10 seconds to confirm that she''d rather die than become a smith, but, for something to do, she starting asking questions about how Jackie got her supplies, how long it took orders to be filled, and such.  Within days she was as enamored of the business side of things as Flora was of the smithing.


    It was about two weeks after Flora''s first exposure to smithing that Jackie, having just finished work for the day, turned to the girls.  "Look you.  You''re here most of the day when you''re not in school, and I''ve head that you''ve missed a few meals by staying here too long.  So, this is what we''re going to do."


    Both girls flinched back, afraid that they were going to be banned from the shop.  Jackie went down on one knee and wrapped an arm around each girl.  "What we''re going to do is I''m going to adopt the two of you.  That way you won''t miss any more meals, and I won''t be lying awake in bed every night wondering how you''re doing and if you''re getting enough to eat."


    She pulled back and saw two very surprised faces.  "Ah.  Well, I assumed, or rather, I hoped that I wasn''t reading you wrong, but it seemed as if you''ve come to like me as much as I do you.  I thought that it would be best if we were together.


    "I''m not all that good with talking, so maybe I said it backwards or sideways or some-ways, but I hope you understood my meaning.  It feels empty when I''m alone in the house at night.  It never did before, but it does now.


    "So, uh, will you say something?  Please?  Don''t just stand there looking like someone dropped a fish down your dresses."


    The girls looked at each other, nodded, then jumped on Jackie and "hugged the stuffing out of her."


    Jackie stood quickly, lifting the girls as if they weighed nothing.  "I guess that''s a ''yes''.  Let''s get washed up and go talk to your Aunt Anna.  OK?"


    She couldn''t see their nods, but she felt them.  After they had cleaned up, she picked the girls up again and, in spite of their protests that they were too heavy, carried them to the Donetti''s home.


    "Don''t fret about your weight.  From where I sit, you both need more meat on your bones, especially you Flora.  If you''re to be my apprentice someday, you''re going to need a lot more muscle, and that means regular exercise, starting immediately.  How diligent you are in doing it will tell me if you have the proper temperament for working with steel.


    "For now the most important thing is schooling.  A proper smith needs to understand weights and measures, some degree of chemistry, and business.  You can''t scant on that and just learn smithing.  Yes, I know Isobel wants to focus on the business end, but what''ll you do if she''s sick one day and you have to take care of it?"


    She flexed and tossed the twins about five centimeters in the air to settle them better in the crooks of her arms.  "That''s enough talk about work.  What we should do for the rest of the way is talk about who''s going to be the most surprised and how much fun we''re going to have when they find out."


    So saying, she increased her pace slightly and marched up the hill toward their future.


    ---------------------


    When they arrived, they found a small celebration already in progress.  Two of the youngest, seven-year-old Kristina and eight-year-old Saya were going to be adopted by the Kamalas, a family of lacemakers.  Unlike Flora and Isobel, who had become attached to Jackie for different reasons, Kristina and Saya were both interested in learning to make lace.


    Their new mother, Dayita, had met them a week after their arrival.  They''d been drawn to her personality first, but one day, when her duty was just to watch the kids and be available to help with problems, she''d pulled a bit of lace out of her bag and had started working on it.  Like with Flora and Jackie, all the kids had watched for a time, but most soon became bored.


    Saya and Kristina were anything but.  They were fascinated that such simple, repetitive motions could produce something so lovely.  The following week, Dayita brought extra thread and needles and had begun to teach them.  She was surprised when even Kristina quickly learned the basics, though she was nearly hopelessly inept, being only seven and still poorly coordinated.  However, she was diligent in practicing.


    Saya soon learned several of the simple knots reasonably well.  Like Kristina she soldiered on, doing her best to improve.


    Dayita dispensed praise, when warranted, and frequent hugs and cuddles.  Neither of the girls had anything but the faintest of memories of their mothers and had no memories of being hugged at all.


    Several weeks on, Dayita brought her son Bala, who was 12, to see how the three of them got on together.  He watched them practicing for a while then took a deep breath and sighed.  "Gods above, they''re awful."


    Both girls looked up and seemed about to cry.  Seemingly ignoring their expressions, Bala said, "But, they''re trying, so I guess they''re not totally hopeless."  After that, he pushed his way in between them and sat down, pulling his own work out of a bag he''d brought with him.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.    He pointed to Kristi''s latest attempt.  "Look you, you''re pulling too hard when you do a knot like that.  Here''s how to do it right."


    After 15 minutes of casually watching out of the corner of her eye, Dayita smiled.  Bala had finished with his gruff act and had his entire attention focused on helping the little ones.  He''d always loved children and had been heartbroken when they''d learned eight years ago that his mother would be unable to have any more.


    Which brings us to the party.  Dayita was the first to notice Jackie and her twins as they entered the room and hurried over.  "It looks like congratulations are in order for you three as well.  Come, let us join the others."


    She frowned.  "But perhaps you should put the girls down.  If you don''t let them walk by themselves now and then, they might forget how."


    Jackie did a double-take.  Dayita was doing her best not to show any expression, but her eyes were dancing with mirth.  Jackie set the girls down, patted them on the backs, and said, "Get on over with the others and have fun.  I need to talk to Anna about some boring adult stuff."


    They looked up, smiled, then rushed over to join the other kids.  They could smell ginger cookies, and they didn''t want to see them all eaten before they got some.


    Dayita put her arm around Jackie''s waist, which prompted a startled, almost shocked response.  Looking up with a smile, Dayita pulled Jackie with her.  "In a way, we''re almost going to be in-laws, which makes us family.  For those of us from India, having a large family is a blessing.  You are most welcome."


    Jackie looked down and smiled back tentatively.  "Well, it feels sorta strange, but it also feels sorta right somehow.  I never had a sister, but I suspect that you have enough mischief in you for three of them.  That''s all right though.  I hate being bored!"


    They exchanged grins and laughed, then made their way to where Anna was watching over the proceedings and pretending to supervise.


    ----------------------


    Time passed surprisingly quickly, as it always does when you''re not watching and it sneaks past you.  Mattie finally laid down an ultimatum that sorted out the children in her wing.  She, quite rightly, pointed out  that they weren''t going to be able to do anything as a group until she was grown, and that was going to take at least 10 more years.  In the meantime, they needed to get started on their training, so they''d best be about choosing who they were going to live with.  RIGHT NOW!


    The last girl from Metz, Sally Davidson, was at least as interested in medicine and healing as Brigid.  They began by asking to follow Kaho around occasionally when they''d finished school.  That eventually led to their meeting Dr. Kastner who, after several visits to confirm that their interest was genuine, introduced them to one of his daughters, Raquel Rodriguez.  She was a master herbalist and had a set of fraternal twins who were 12.


    By mid-December she and her husband Antonio adopted Brigid and Sally.  Brigid was, to say the least, reluctant to leave Mattie "all by yourself," but she was soon disabused of that idea.  Mattie glared at her and exclaimed,  "Look.  You can''t be the medic for the Overwing if you''re not trained.  So quit dilly-dallying and go get started.  Kaho says that it takes at least 20 years to become a true expert, and being an expert is the bare minimum that an Overwing will accept.  So scoot!"


    As Brigid and Sally headed toward their new home, Mattie rubbed her hands together and smiled.  With them gone, she''d be the only girl around Alphonse every day, and she needed every advantage she could get.  She was three years younger that he was, and it would be at least another six years before she started to develop a figure.  The fewer temptations he was exposed to before she did, the better.


    She spun around and headed toward the front entryway.  Anna would be home soon, and Mattie wanted to tell her that she''d thought about Anna''s offer and had decided that she''d be most pleased to be adopted into the family.


    As for the four boys in her wing, everyone had been blindsided by their placement.  One and all had thought that all the visits by Henrietta and her husband Captain Murray had been nothing more than their donating time...and getting away from all the paperwork waiting for them at The Residence.


    The Captain had noticed the boys'' martial interests early on and had been working with them at their lessons at Hiroshi Macklin''s, where he was the primary assistant instructor.  He''d suggested to Henrietta that they adopt them almost as a joke, saying that since they were almost the same age as their four daughters, and they were such diligent and nice kids, it would be good if they lived together as they were growing up, and fell in love.  That way they''d avoid having to deal with all the "so-called nobles that are really nothing but bottom-feeding scum" and would be after the girls just because they were Henrietta''s.


    He''d chuckled when he''d finished, but, rather than laughing with him she''d sat in her chair with a pensive look.  For a minute he thought he''d offended her somehow, but then she shook herself and looked directly at him.  "Yes.  An excellent suggestion.  They''re wonderful boys, and The Residence could use a bit of noise now and then to break up the tedium.  With you training the boys, and me training the girls, even if they don''t fall in love with each other, all eight of them will be better for it."


    She grinned up at him.  "Besides, Henri will likely be thrilled to have some other boys around.  I know he loves his little sisters, but, sometimes when he doesn''t know I''m watching, he''ll look at them and sigh as if being put in a household that''s mostly female was some sort of curse."


    She stood and strode to her desk.  "I''ll get started on the official paperwork right now.  As one of those ''so-called nobles'' we can''t have them just move in with us like all the other children did with their new families."


    She lifted her head from her writing and smiled at him.  "If you hadn''t suggested it, I''d planned to by the end of the month.  Good on you!"


    -------------------


    Even with that, the most surprising adoption involved the boys from La Grande.  Sergeant Rivers dropped by occasionally, starting the first week, "just to make sure things are going well," not that anyone believed her.  As time went on, her visits became more and more frequent.


    From the time her increased visits were noticed, there was a betting pool among the staff and family, with the bets varying from saying that she''d take all three of the then remaining girls to the four boys who were with Brigid and Mattie and any other combination anyone could think of.


    Sara was the only one who bet on Kurt and Sandro, and, once she did, the others knew that they''d lost.  They pretended that they were still in the game, but even the new staff had heard the stories about Sara''s incredible accuracy when it came to wagering on things.


    So, while it wasn''t as big a surprise as it might have been, all of them were surprised by how quickly it happened.  Sandy took the boys off to the side one day and spoke to them intently for several minutes.  When she finished, she knelt down on one knee, after which the boys stepped forward and hugged her.  Shortly thereafter they packed up their things and left.


    Sandy explained that she wasn''t interested in getting married due to her ongoing duties, but she''s always loved kids.  Since they were 13, and unusually responsible at that, she''d not have to worry about them if she were late getting home due to something coming up at work or when she had the night shift.


    For the boys'' part, when a few weeks later Anna and Miranda asked why they''d chosen the Sergeant, their answer was both a surprise and, at the same time, reasonable.  They said that she was like having two parents wrapped up in one.  When she was being the Sergeant, she acted much like the men in her command.  However, when she was at home, or they were on an outing on her days off, she dressed and acted much like any other woman.


    What Sandro said when Anna asked if there were any other reasons, was heartbreakingly to the point, "It''s like this.  We know already what it''s like when your parents die suddenly.  If we had two again, we''d eventually lose both of them, especially if one, or both, didn''t take very good care of themselves.  But Sergeant Sandy is different.  She''s awfully healthy, and she takes real good care of herself too.  So, with her, we won''t have to worry so much and, someday, when it''s her time, we''ll only have one more person to mourn."


    Anna said nothing, just smiled and gestured for the boys to leave.  Manda turned around and had a minor coughing episode.  Once the boys had left and shut the door, the women threw their arms around each other and cried their eyes out.


    Things went well after that, for all concerned.  Oh, yes, there were a few glitches as the new families adjusted to each other''s quirks, but overall there were no major problems.  That lasted until the second week of the new year.

 Vol 3 - Ch 32 WTF?!

    January 12 in The Year 726 AF


    It was a rainy Tuesday, one of those days where there''s a steady rain interspersed with strong wind gusts and sheets of water seeming to blow entirely sideways.  The rain had started on the previous Friday so, when Kurt and Sandro had seemed a bit under the weather on Monday, Sandy  kept them home from school, presuming that they might be coming down with colds.  Unfortunately she was wrong.  When she went to get them up Tuesday morning she found them both still in bed with their hands over their stomachs.


    She didn''t have to wait for their, "We don''t feel so good," to realize that they were truly ill.  She''d had way too much experience with guardsmen faking being ill, or just hung over, to ever be fooled about whether or not someone was sick.  Her first thought was that it was her fault for introducing them to a highly spiced Sicilian dish the night before.


    She checked both of them and couldn''t find anything wrong beside their being pale and both of them trying not to move, as even slight motion seemed to make their abdominal pain worse.  It could be the food, but, at the same time, their reaction looked to be a bit extreme for that, maybe, or, then again, perhaps not.  Truthfully, she had no idea.


    Reviewing the duty roster in her head, she found both good and better news.  The Guard medic was off today.  The doctor on call was Kaho Fukui.  She was likely to be more gentle with the boys than a man who usually had to put up with whining soldiers.


    After she''d propped the boys up high enough to drink, she''d fixed tea and put it where they could reach it.  "I''m off to get Dr. Fukui.  She''ll figure out what''s what and get you fixed right up."


    Kurt struggled up on one elbow, "We''re not going to die, are we?"


    Sandy smothered her, "What a silly thing to say," retort before it even began to emerge.  The boys had lost both parents suddenly when the plague tore through their village.


    She stroked each of their heads, then stepped into the middle of the room and looked at them.  "No.  People get ill like this all the time.  It''s probably from making you eat such spicy food for the first time yesterday, but, the thing is, it could be one of several different minor illnesses that look much the same early on.  We need Dr. Fukui to tell us which of those things it is so we can do the right treatment.  OK?"


    They nodded, clearly reluctant to see her go, but go she must if she were going to get help.


    "Right then. I''ll be back as soon as I can.  It should be well under an hour, possibly as soon as 30 minutes."


    She closed their door slowly and carefully, then took herself to the mud room where she kept her rain gear.  Throwing on a slicker and snugging her belt tightly she braced herself and opened the side door.  Instead of the expected downpour, she found herself facing an ominously dark, cloudy sky but no rain.  Thanking God for the blessing, she walked briskly down the road.  No running on wet cobbles, or there''d be a third patient, and Kaho was prone to be none too gentle with people who got hurt because of their own stupidity.


    She was lucky in that, since she was on call, Kaho would be at home, which was only about a 15 minute walk.  If she''d been working at Dr. Kastner''s, it would have taken much longer.  In addition, being at home, she''d have her emergency kit ready to hand.


    Once Sandy had explained the situation, all Kaho had to do was pick up her kit and put on her own rain gear.  They were out the door within five minutes.


    After they''d arrived and hung their things in the mud room to drip, Sandy lead the way to the boys'' room.  She opened the door and stood back to allow Kaho to enter first.  Kaho strode forward and froze about a meter past the doorway.  Some seconds later she introduced herself,  "I''m Dr. Fukui.  I can see some of what you need from here, so your mother and I will be making up a special tea.  It''ll be easier for you when I do my examination if you''re already feeling better.  OK?"


    They nodded, somewhat hesitantly, but the idea of feeling better soon was highly appealing.


    Kaho stepped back, closed the door, grabbed Sandy''s arm, pulled her down the hall, and then downstairs.


    "I need you to get Miranda Donetti and Archbishop Comfort, and I need them right now.  Tell them I don''t mean in a few hours when they have more time or when the rain lets up.  I mean as soon as they can get here without hurting themselves on the way.


    "While you''re doing that, I''ll get things started upstairs.  I''m almost 100% certain of what''s going on, but I''m going to need the two ladies to confirm it for me...and to figure out what we need to do next."


    Seeing surprise and the beginnings of shock on Sandy''s face, Kaho hurried to reassure her, "No, they don''t have some strange or fatal disease.  Their lives are definitely not in danger.  It''s just that something weird is going on magically.  I can sort of see it, but I have no idea how it happened or what to do about it.  That''s why we need experts.


    "No questions now.  Every question you can possibly ask will be answered before the day is out, IF you get going." She took Sandy by the shoulders, turned her around and gave her a push in the back.  Then she headed toward the kitchen.  She knew that very strange things happened in this world.  She was one of the strangest herself, being a Lightweaver.  This though...


    Well, as Dr. Kastner had taught her,  "When you don''t know everything you need to do, start with what you do know.  After you''ve done that, it''s likely that whatever you need to do next will declare itself."


    Once in the kitchen she unpacked the appropriate herbal combination.  She''d start with a tea to help with pain and nausea.  Once it had taken effect, she''d get the blankets off the children and see whether or not her initial impression was correct.


    ------------------


    By the time Sandy returned with Miranda and Lucina Comfort in tow, the boys were asleep.  Kaho had made the tea substantially stronger than usual as she didn''t want the children to hear anything that might be said.


    Glancing at Miranda and Lucina, she was relieved to see that they looked to be no more than moderately irritated.  Good.


    "Right then.  Sandy, your mind needs to be that of the Sergeant and not their mother for the next few minutes.  You''re not to say a single word when we''re in the children''s room.  You''ll understand later."


    Turning to the others, she bowed.  "Thank you for coming.  In all my years, I''ve never seen anything like this before.  But, seeing as I''m only 23, I don''t have your experience.  I''m hoping that you''ll know what to do."


    Miranda and Lucina looked at each other with questioning eyes, then turned to follow Kaho, who was already on her way up the stairs.


    When they reached the children''s room, Kaho put her finger to her lips, the others nodded, and she led them in.


    Sandy noticed that the boys were now covered only by light sheets.  Kaho took ahold of Kurt''s sheet and pulled it down half way, exposing his chest.


    Even with all her years of training, Sandy had to clap her hands over her mouth to keep from shouting.


    Lucina and Miranda walked closer and bent forward, trying to make themselves believe that they were imagining what they were seeing.  Unfortunately for their peace of mind, Kaho continued pulling down the sheet and exposed the rest of the body.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    One glance what all that was needed.  Sandy staggered out of the room.  If she was going to faint, she didn''t want the noise to awaken the children.


    Miranda turned to Lucina and whispered, "You ever see anything like this before?"


    Lucina likewise answered, "Nope.  Now what do we do?  I haven''t the slightest idea."


    After cogitating for a few seconds, Miranda had an inspiration.  "Master, I''m going to try something.  Please bear with me.  I promise that, at worst, I''ll look like an idiot.  At best, it''ll shatter your ideas of how the world works, but that''s the worst I can think of."


    She gestured at the children.  "No matter what happens it won''t harm the girls."


    Lucina glared at her with suspicion oozing out her pores, but she nodded briskly.  "Go ahead then.  Get on with it."


    Miranda bowed her head, took a deep breath and said, "Master O''Malley, please, we desperately need your help."


    "Well, well.  We need to remember such an historic occasion.  The first time you ever asked for help without trying all kinds of silly things by yourself first.  I''m almost amazed that you called me, especially after what I did to you last year."


    O''Malley winked at Kaho and Lucina who were staring at them open mouthed.  "Miranda can be a bit difficult at times, but overall she''s a good child.  Now, what is it that you need...."


    As they were speaking, O''Malley had been turning and caught a glimpse of Kurt.  "Oh....  My....  God...."


    Looking back over their shoulder, O''Malley chuckled, "Yes, it is a bit redundant, but sometimes you just have to say it, right?"


    They took two steps and held their hands about a half a meter above Kurt''s body, then froze in that position.  From where the others stood, it looked as if they''d stopped breathing too.


    All three of the ladies were full of questions, but they knew that there were times when trying to satisfy your curiosity could be extremely dangerous, and this was likely one of those times.


    Eventually O''Malley took a deep breath.  "I see.  So that''s what it is.  Their father was a very foolish man.  Almost broken with grief, but very, very foolish even for someone in his state.  Then again, that''s when we''re most likely to do something like this."


    Their voice took on a stern tone, and the building trembled with their words, "The one who cast the spell though....  That one was anything but foolish.  ''Proud'', ''reckless'', and ''greedy'' are the first words that come to mind.  Doing something this heinous just to see whether or not you can is not something that I''m inclined to forgive."


    They snapped their fingers.  "Kaitlin, attend me."


    There was a gust of wind and a winged creature with beautiful, multi-colored scales covering its entire body and tail appeared in the room.


    "What is your wish Master?"


    "Find the person whose image I''m about to put in your mind.  Convince him that using spells like the one he cast on these children is a ''bad thing''.  Take however long you need to be sure that he truly understands, to the depth of his being, but be absolutely certain that he retains his sanity.  Punishing someone who doesn''t comprehend why they''re being corrected is counterproductive."


    "It shall be as you say Master."


    There was another brief gust of wind, and the creature was no longer present.  O''Malley shook their head.  "Some people just have learn the hard way."


    Miranda cringed.  Lucina noticed and would have given a great deal to know what Miranda had done in the past to incur this O''Malley''s wrath.  However she''d long ago learned that digging up someone''s painful past just to satisfy your curiosity is of itself an evil deed, and she had no intention of even thinking of doing so.


    "Right then.  Time to fix this.  Attend me Miranda and Lucina.  If you ''watch'' carefully, you''ll probably learn a bit of something new."


    O''Malley moved to the center of the room, then raised their arms and put one hand a few centimeters above the center of each of the girls'' chests.  The others said nothing, but all three of the watchers were wild-eyed.  O''Malley didn''t seem to be stretching, but the beds were almost three meters apart.


    Next O''Malley gradually lifted their hands and a ghostly image of each girl appeared, rising as O''Malley''s hands did.  O''Malley continued raising their hands, and, by the time they were a meter and a half above the girls'' bodies, there were three ghostly images of each girl below each hand.


    O''Malley began softly. "Tragedies do strange things to us.  The history you got was partially correct.  The girls'' mother did indeed have stillborn twins a year before these two were born, but those children weren''t girls.  They were boys.


    "What happened after that was the opposite of what you heard.  The girls'' father''s mind was bent by the event.  After these girls were born, he spent months looking for a mage to ''fix the mistake'' of his ''boys'' being born in girl''s bodies.


    "He finally found a mage to take on the challenge.  Of course he couldn''t change their sex, but he realized that he probably could make everyone see them as boys.  It''s quite a complex spell, and I must admit that he cast it beautifully.  His only mistake, besides doing it in the first place, was that he never noticed, or perhaps he never thought to check, that the girls'' mother also had a mage gift.


    "That''s why his spell never affected her, and by the time the plague took her a week after her husband died of it, the rest of the village was convinced that it was she whose mind had broken and caused her to insist that her children were daughters and not sons.


    "As a matter of fact, their mother had at least as much power as Miranda here does.  Totally untrained, but substantial. And that explains the amulets.  About an hour before she died, she laid her hands on the crosses the girls wore and made them swear never to take them off, as they would ''protect'' them.


    "While she was holding them, she used all of her power to try to fix what the other mage had done."


    Shaking their head gently side to side, they continued, "I have to give her credit.  She had a high fever and was nearly delirious, which is why she didn''t exactly cast the spell she wanted.  What she wanted was to break the spell that made people think that her girls were male.  What she did when she was casting her spell was say, "Damn it!  They''re NOT BOYS!"


    "The strain of the casting made her unconscious, and she died an hour later.  The spell did work though, and from that moment on, everyone who encountered them thought of them as girls."


    O''Malley shrugged. "That''s why we have what you see here.  On top is their true female form as it should be at their age.  In the middle is the boy form that was imposed on them by the mage the girls'' father hired, and on the bottom you can see a somewhat ambiguous form, neither male nor female.  That''s left over from their mother''s casting.


    "Only the one on top is the true self, so, what we need to do is get rid of the others without harming the original, which is going to be a bit tricky.


    "If you look closely you''ll see that all of the forms are connected to each other by hundreds of threads, and the bottom one connects to the body.  What I need to do is sever all the connections to the two lower forms, dispose of both of them, and then reconnect the true form with the body.


    "The hard part is that if it takes more than a tenth of a second, or if any of the threads I repair are mis-connected to one that isn''t its true counterpart, the child will die.


    "That being the case, I''ll just pop into No-Time....


    "There done, and a fine job if I say so myself.  Which I do, since nobody else saw me do it.  I suppose I could have taken you into No-Time with me, but none of you are quite ready for that yet."


    Brushing their hands together, as if ridding them of some dust, O''Malley turned back to Miranda.  "You did well to call me little one.  It looks like there''s hope for you yet.  Not that I ever doubted it.


    "You can find me at the store whenever.  Just be sure that you''ve finished that new book first."


    With that O''Malley vanished leaving three befuddled beings in the room.


    Before they could say anything to each other, O''Malley popped back in.  "I forgot to tell you.  ''Kurt''s'' true name is Hannah.  ''Sandro''s'' is Tabitha.  Toodles."


    Kaho turned to Sandy, whose mouth was still hanging open, and, with a perfectly straight face, said, "Right then Sandy.  Let''s get the girls cleaned up.  Then I''ll teach you how to make the tea they''ll need if they ever have cramps like this again.  They may not.  Some girls only do with their first few monthlys or even just the first one.


    "I''ll leave teaching them about what''s going on with their bodies to you.  It''ll do you good."


    She turned a half circle.  "Speaking of leaving things to others, Madame Donetti, Archbishop Comfort, I shall leave it up to you illustrious ladies to figure out how to explain to everyone that the girls really are girls, just as we''d originally thought when they first arrived.  I''m sure you''ll be able to fabricate some sort of plausible explanation for their temporary "boyhood."


    "You may not convince everyone, but nobody in their right mind would ever disagree with either of you when it comes to matters of magic.  Besides, it''ll be ever so much fun to watch you pummel your minds while you try to figure out how to clean up this mess."


    After getting the girls taken care of, Kaho took Sandy''s arm and gently pulled her out the door then downstairs to the kitchen where, as promised, she taught Sandy about how to make the herbal tea and which shop carried a proper mix of the herbs.  As it was the only shop in town that handled that particular mixture, it was always busy.


    Later, when Miranda and Lucina were about to follow Kaho out the door, Miranda paused and stared after Kaho''s receding back with a flinty expression.  "That girl....  She''s always going on about how little she likes to talk, but, somehow, once she gets started, she always ends up talking more than almost anyone else I know."


    Lucina chuckled.  "That may well be true, but it doesn''t help our problem."  She gestured upstairs toward the girls.


    "How in the world are we going to fix this?"

 Vol 3 - Ch 33 Conclusion and Epilogue

    Four days later Miranda stormed into O''Malley''s and, almost, slammed the book she was carrying on the counter.  "You...  You....  You, perfidious schemer!  We were out of our minds with worry about how to protect the girls and deal with all the people who ''knew'' that they were boys!  And now, this!  We realized this morning that not one single person has said a word about it.


    "You did something, didn''t you?  You fiddled with the minds of everyone who knew them and made them remember Hannah and Tabitha as always having been girls.  If you were going to do that, why in the world did you let Lucina and I worry so much?"


    O''Malley picked up a teacup and took a slow, measured sip, after which they raised their eyebrows.  "Really?  It took you this long to notice.  I''m rather disappointed.  I''m also disappointed that you haven''t realized what the lesson was."


    "Lesson?  There''s a lesson in this mess?"


    O''Malley looked toward the ceiling and sighed.  "You''re going to take longer than I''d thought."


    Looking back at Miranda, they put down their tea.  "Yes. Lesson.  No matter how stressed you are, it''s imperative to still pay attention to your surroundings. If you had, you''d have seen by no later than noon the next day what was going on.


    "This time all you suffered was a bit of emotional stress.  In other circumstances, it might cost you your life, or, even more importantly, the lives of those you care about."


    Miranda fell back into the chair behind her and put her face in her hands.  Every time she thought she''d taken a few steps forward, O''Malley pulled the rug out from under her feet again.  It wasn''t fair!


    "No little one. It''s not fair, but it IS necessary."


    O''Malley laid a book on the counter.  "Here''s your next book.  You may find it more useful than this copy of Applied Dressmaking that you''ve just returned.  That is, unless you have truly understood the lessons in what you just read.  At any rate, I''ll see you again when you''ve finished the new one."


    Miranda got up, walked to the counter, and stretched out her hand to pick up the book.  She froze in place when she was close enough to read the title, which was: "Strategy and Strategems -- Situations for Their Use".


    She lifted her head to see O''Malley once again sitting down and cradling their teacup.  They winked at her then turned their attention back to their tea.


    Miranda scooped up the book and headed back up the hill.  This particular volume she planned to memorize as best she could.  Then she''d share it with Blair, Akane, and Hiroshi...perhaps also Dot and Bobby.  She might be slow on the uptake, but this particular hint was extraordinarily obvious.  Something was coming and they''d need to be prepared for it.


    O''Malley nodded to themself.  Good girl.  Miranda had understood and hadn''t needed any mental prodding, though, of course, she had no way of realizing that the six of them weren''t going to be needing the knowledge they gleaned from the book for several hundred years.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Overall, things were going moderately well.  "Kaho" had played her role perfectly, not that O''Malley had ever had doubts about that one.  She hadn''t made a single mistake for, well, interesting.... O''Malley couldn''t think of a single error she''d made since she was an adolescent.  She well deserved her position.


    Nodding again, they returned to savoring their tea.  Herbal infusions were ubiquitous in the multiverses, but this particular planet produced some of the best.


    --------------------------


    Epilogue


    Professor Ptica coughed to get the attention of her students.  "Well, that was a long session, but I''m sure you can see why it was scheduled for an entire day on a Friday instead of just an hour at a time, scattered through the week.  If we''d split up the final part, you''d have forgotten half of it by today, and I would have had to express my displeasure in some form or another.


    She glared at her students, who all laughed nervously.  Even after three years, they weren''t always sure when she was teasing them.


    "Next semester will be the end of the Applied Sociology courses I teach that concern The City of The Bells.  Should other courses open up that I think will be of benefit to you, I, or another faculty member, will contact you long enough before you graduate that you''ll be able to fit them into your schedules, if you so desire."


    She bowed to the class, totally shocking most of them.  She smiled behind her dampener.  She''d never tell them that she wasn''t kidding this time and had meant it as a sign of respect.  These children had interesting, and important, futures ahead of them.


    "Well, go on.  Get out there and enjoy your weekend.  Final exams are next week, though I doubt that I needed to remind you.  All of you look nervous enough already.  Even so, fun is what I prescribe for the weekend.  You can stress over things that you actually needn''t worry about starting Monday."


    "Goodbye for now.  I''ll see you in a month."


    She fluttered off her perch and walked slowly out of the room.  She realized that she''d miss this group once the year ended.  They were more entertaining than most.


    Oh well.  She shrugged.  Such was life.  It was full of changes, both small and large.  It''s what had kept her from being bored with teaching these past 163 years.


    -------------------------------


    Addendum:


    1) You are probably puzzled by the total lack of response by Robert and Miranda after Consuela and Stavros were attacked.  The other four family members involved, having been warned by Mimi that Miranda had already experienced a severe, though unspecified shock, mutually agreed that it was probably safer not to tell her immediately as there had not been any serious consequences.  As he was totally incapable of keeping secrets from Miranda, Robert was not told either.


    Sara discussed the situation with the twins, and they agreed that keeping the matter secret for a time was likely the best course.


    They''d all intended to tell Miranda eventually, but, as the months, and then years passed, they somehow never got around to it.


    2)  About the Bank of the Griffon.  It is not a mis-spelling of "griffin."  The bank was named after the Southern European Vulture, Gyps fulvus, which is often called the Griffon Vulture.  It was explained to customers that, like a vulture, the bank would extract the last tiny bit of profit from anything which they pursued.  Nothing would be wasted.


    I know it sounds strange, but that''s how one of their representatives explained it to me.  She also mentioned that, after their first, shocked reaction to the explanation, most of those hearing it became customers.


    3) Regarding the passwords exchanged by Lieutenant Garavani and Genie in La Grande:


    The Little Cathedral doesn''t have spires.


    The Harvest Festival takes place during either the last week of October or the first week of November, not at the end of November.

 Vol 4 - Ch 1 Shes a bit....different?

    Ptica tossed her datapad on the lectern, stared at the class for a few seconds, then began, "There''s still a lot to cover this new semester, so I won''t bother with an introduction.  We don''t have time to waste if we''re going to finish everything before the end of the academic year, thus, we''ll start immediately."


    --------------------


    Thursday April 11 In The Year 726 After The Founding


    Bored...  Bored...bored, bored, bored....BORED!


    "Ah geez!  This totally sucks!"


    Stavros threw his hands in the air and continued pacing back and forth in his room.  It had been almost six months since Genie and Mario had arrived in The City with the orphans from Metz and La Grande, and things had calmed down so much that Stav had almost nothing to do but study, read, and eat.


    Certainly, he had a number of male friends, but, after all that he''d been through in the past year, what they considered "fun" were things that he now thought of as incredibly childish.  Lacking their company as an outlet wouldn''t have been a problem in the past as, for years, his primary means of avoiding boredom had been to poke into this and that and get into trouble with ''Suela.  Sure, their mother and Mimi had always found out what they''d been up to, somehow, but even being punished for their misdeeds was better than having nothing to do, and that was the problem.


    In the back of his mind he''d known that someday he and ''Suela wouldn''t be together all day, every day, but he''d never expected it to happen so soon or so quickly.  Except for at school and mealtimes, he hardly ever saw her any more.  She was spending all of her free time out somewhere or other with Brigid and Heidi, and even at home she and Heidi were always together.


    That too was part of what bugged him. He absolutely hated not knowing what was going on in The CIty, and, lately, ''Suela never mentioned anything that she and the others were up to.  All he ever saw was the occasional wicked giggle when they came home.  The few times he''d managed to talk to ''Suela when Heidi wasn''t nearby, or it was safe to speak in "twin", she''d refused to say anything other than that what they''d been doing was "girl stuff".  Then she''d grin at him and flounce away somewhere, clearly insufferably pleased with his mounting frustration.


    For a couple of weeks he''d managed to distract himself by helping with training Tabitha, Sergeant Rivers'' youngest, adoptive daughter, who was studying to be one of his mother''s teen informants.  However, once she''d completed her training -- which had been undertaken with the Sergeant''s gleeful consent -- she''d made it clear that she preferred to work solo.  It wasn''t exactly that she disliked his company, but, rather, it was that she''d chosen to work on tasks involving gleaning information in places that were frequented primarily, or only, by women. So, after his part in her training was finished, he''d once again been at loose ends.


    Well, for tonight at least he''d have ''Suela''s company.  Heidi and Brigid would be with Sara as she continued to help them get caught up with their studies, while he and ''Suela finished up a joint school project that was due in the morning.


    They headed straight to his bedroom after dinner and immediately dived into polishing their presentation.  It had taken longer than planned, as they''d unexpectedly disagreed on how to wrap things up.  They finally agreed on presenting both of their ideas.  They''d preface the ending with: "There are two possible conclusions that can be drawn from the data.  Rather than choosing one of them for you and, thus, leaving you ignorant of the other, we''ve decided to tell you about both and then let each of you decide which one you find most reasonable."


    Besides being true, for the most part at least, they figured that, if they did it that way, Mr. Hooper might sorta, maybe, forget that he''d told the class that one of the reasons for the groups was to give them practice in negotiations and compromise.  They were supposed to come to a firm, joint conclusion.


    Friday, April 12


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.    The twins'' worries turned out to be not such a problem after all, as, at the beginning of Homeroom, Miss Falco said, "I have a surprise for you.  It''s very unusual at this time of year, but we should all remember that unusual things happen now and then.  So, I have the pleasure of introducing a new classmate to you."


    A buzz of murmured conversations filled the room as she turned to the door and said, "Come on in dear."


    The door slid open and there was absolute silence as their new classmate entered.  It wasn''t that all the kids were being polite; they truly weren''t mature enough for that.  It was rather that they were shocked into insensibility.


    The person entering seemed more to flow in rather than walk.  Or perhaps she glided in.  Then again, maybe she stalked into the room.  When they all had a chance to discuss the situation later, nobody could quite come up with a word that described it adequately.  What they all could agree on was that she was unlike anyone they''d ever met before.


    Her skin coloring was beyond unusual, being almost the same shade as ripe wheat in the late afternoon.  Beyond that, what was decidedly more odd was that the color of her clothes matched that of her skin so closely that it was hard to tell where one began and the other ended.  The only thing that everyone did agree on was that she was, probably, somewhat on the slim side.


    She was also taller than most of the girls in the classroom, and, for that matter, most of the boys as well.  But, as everyone was either 11 or 12, it wasn''t all that strange for a girl to be taller than the boys, who hadn''t entered their teen growth spurts yet.


    Even with all that, the most compelling thing of all was her hair.  It was white, with scattered, honey-blonde streaks, the most prominent being one about two cm wide that began almost directly above her left eye.  The way she wore her hair was, in a word, intimidating.  From ear to ear her hair stood up about four cm at a 90 degree angle to her scalp, then swept back, coming almost to a point directly above the nape of her neck.


    The overall impression that she gave was more like that of a lion rather than a human.


    Once she reached Miss Falco, she turned to face the class and, in a deep, almost raspy voice said, "I''m Danica Karongo.  I''m from the Kingdom of Alodia."


    Seeing blank faces, she added, "You probably refer to it as Nubia.


    "My parents, my brothers, and I have moved here to join my uncle and his family.  We''re all silversmiths.  I''m fifteen years old.  We''ve been traveling for nearly three years, so I''ve not been able to attend school.  We just arrived two days ago."


    Then she smiled, and it drew everyone''s attention like a magnet.  "It''s been exhausting, but we''re here, and I can''t wait to begin learning all about your city.   I haven''t seen much of it so far, but what I have seen is thrilling.  Discovering its secrets is going to be soooo exciting!"


    She turned to Miss Falco and bowed slightly to indicate that she was finished speaking.


    "Thank you Danica.  That was an excellent introduction.  Now, let me see...."


    She turned to the class and surveyed the empty desks.  "Stavros Donetti, put up your hand.


    "Danica, choose the desk to either side of Stavros there.  He''ll assist you in finding your way around the school and will also be available to help you find your way to the various shops and such in The City until you feel comfortable on your own."


    Seeing his mouth open, probably to protest, Miss Falco fixed him with a sharp gaze and quickly added, "Given recent events, I''m sure that he''ll be most pleased to help you.  Isn''t that right Stavros?"


    Seeing the fierce look on Miss Falco''s face, and remembering certain unfortunate incidents at school in the past month, that he''s been at least peripherally involved in, he closed his mouth, stood, and bowed.  "Yes Miss Falco, I''d be honored to assist Miss Karongo in learning her way around."


    She smiled, nodded, and gestured to Danica.  "Please be seated, then we''ll begin Homeroom."


    Conseula had been shocked when Miss Falco had "asked" Stavros to be Danica''s guide...at least until she saw the look on Miss Falco''s face and Stavros'' guilty swallow before he''d consented.  It seemed that he''d been a naughty, naughty boy, and whatever it was, she had no inkling of it.


    That was when she also realized what he had the previous month.  Their lives were diverging.  It was inevitable, and, truthfully, entirely expected, but it was also painful.  The act that they''d put on at Mario and Genie''s wedding reception nearly two years before was becoming reality.


    She turned to him, smiled softly, and said, "I love you you idiot brother," then turned her attention to Miss Falco.


    As he was at that moment scooting his desk over next to Danica''s so as to share his textbook with her, and because of the shock of ''Suela''s surprising declaration, he didn''t answer.


    Instead he whispered to Danica, "Do you read Italian?"


    She whispered back, "Yes, at least tolerably. Once I was certain that we''d be able to complete our journey, I started practicing again by reading some books an Italian merchant in Soba gave me; so for about a year.  Even so, I''m sure I''m going to need some help."


    With that, she too turned her attention to Miss Falco.

 Vol 4 - Ch 2 A Fever?

    When Mr. Hooper entered the room at the change of class, he was almost as startled by Danica''s appearance as the children had been.  He''d been informed that she would be joining the class, but he''d not yet seen her.  Consuela and Stavros were scheduled to present their project first, and, due to being distracted, Mr. Hooper didn''t appear to notice that they''d not quite completed it as instructed...or so they thought.


    Once they''d finished, Mr. Hooper raised an eyebrow and said, "Interesting.  We''ll discuss the ramifications of your conclusions at another time.  For now though...."


    He turned to the class and continued, "We''ll proceed with the presentations.  Next please."


    From there on, the day progressed as usual.  When lunchtime arrived, Consuela approached and introduced herself, "I''m Consuela, Stavros'' sister. Please call me ''Suela."


    Danica looked up at ''Suela then to Stavros, then back again.  "Indeed. I see the resemblance.  I''m pleased to meet you."


    Stavros stood and turned to Danica, "It''s time for lunch.  If you''ll come with us to the dining area?"


    "Of course."  Danica stood as well.  "I''m interested to see what kinds of foods you have here.  Please, lead the way Stavros.  I shall follow."


    "She talks sorta formal-like, doesn''t she ''Suela?"


    "Yeah, but she barely knows you, and she doesn''t know me at all, yet.  She''s probably just using her ''be polite to strangers'' speech.  Besides, there''s no way she could have learned our particular dialect yet.  She probably only knows standard Italian."


    "OK.  That makes sense.  Anyway, it''s WAY to early for us to pigeon-hole her."


    ''Suela shrugged apologetically even though she was now behind Danica.  "Yeah, guess it''s sorta arrogant to decide what someone''s like only a couple minutes after you meet them."


    "Agreed.  Let''s see what happens.  Besides, I''m more interested in lunch than sorting out her personality."


    Once they arrived, the four friends that the twins usually ate with plopped down and introduced themselves, after which everyone concentrated on eating.  No one said anything, as they''d decided that they''d first see if being around so many people of itself would make Danica uncomfortable.


    Everyone watched as Danica quickly, but neatly, devoured everything before her.  Once she finished she looked up toward the ceiling, stretched her arms above her head, and exclaimed, "Oh, that was lovely!  I don''t think I''ve had so much to eat in a single day in nearly a year!"


    All who had heard her looked at each other with the same question in their eyes.  "Did she say she hadn''t had this much to eat in a whole day?"


    As she lowered her arms, Danica lost her balance and Stavros quickly grabbed her upper arm to keep her from falling backwards.


    Momentarily she seemed to be stunned, then she turned her head and glared at him.  "A boy shouldn''t touch a girl so casually when he barely knows her.


    "But I''ll forgive you...just this once...since you seemed to be worried for me.  For that, I thank you." Then she smiled and all was well.


    Conversations then began all around the room, and soon the dining area sounded much as it usually did during lunch.  As the sounds enveloped her, and when nobody was looking at her, Danica took her left hand and gently brushed a finger across the area where Stavros had touched her.  Then she brought her finger to her lips as if she were flicking away a crumb.  While so doing, she tasted what was on her finger.


    Had anyone been looking directly at her, her twitch of surprise would have been mistaken as her just shifting position on the bench...she hoped.  Could it be?  So soon?  Within only two days of arriving?If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    While it was true that the Wise One in Soba had told the family that their destiny lay in this strangely named city, such things usually meant something like "some unforeseeable time in the future."


    She shook herself.  There was nothing that needed to be done immediately even if it were true.  They were both still children after all.  There was plenty of time for...


    "Danica.  Danica!  What''s wrong.  Are you all right?"


    She found herself leaning heavily against Stavros, who had an arm around her shoulders, supporting her, while Consuela was peering at her face from barely 30 centimeters away.


    She struggled to sit upright, but found herself unable to do so.  "Ah, uh...I think so, maybe?  How strange.  It seems that I can''t get up."


    "Stav, you carry her to the nurse."  Consuela turned to the room in general and shouted, "Everyone else, out of the way!"


    Stavros appeared to struggle with her weight, but Danica noticed that the arms around her were holding her firmly.  The next thing she knew, she was being laid on a bed, and a woman was looking her over.


    "I''m Mrs. Chandler dear.  I''m the school nurse.  Tell me, how are you feeling."


    Danica murmured, "Tired.  Otherwise fine.  It must be that I''m a bit worn from the trip.   Soba is a very long way away, and we were traveling for nearly three years."


    Mrs. Chandler nodded and began her evaluation.  She didn''t see anything in particular that was wrong, other than that Danica was much too thin.  Her heart and lungs sounded fine, and her pulses and color were OK as well.  However, she did have a fever.


    "I see.  Well, the best thing for you right now is probably getting some rest at home.  Is there someone we can contact who can come get you?"


    "Sorry, no.  I mean, yes there is, but I don''t know where they are.  I don''t even know where our home is yet.  My aunt brought me here this morning, and I was too busy looking around to notice how we got here.  She is planning to come get me after school."


    "Oh dear.  That''s not good.  We''re supposed to send children with fevers home straight away so the illness can''t spread to the others."


    Consuela spoke up, "I have a suggestion Mrs. Chandler.  Stav and I can take her to our house.  Our mother is a friend of Dr. Kaho Fukui.  I''m sure she''ll be able to find time to examine Danica before the day is out."


    She looked inquiringly at Mrs. Chandler. "That is, if you will permit us to leave school."


    Mrs. Chandler thought for a moment then slowly nodded.  "Yes...  I''ve heard good things about Dr. Fukui.  It would be safest for the rest of the students that way.  Also you two could get in a good soak afterwards.  That should keep you from catching whatever it is she has.


    "Yes, OK.  I''ll allow it."  Turning to Danica she asked, "Does that sound all right to you dear?  All of the staff know where the Donetti children live and can direct your aunt to their home once she arrives."


    Danica nodded.  Things were moving much too fast for her to follow anything more than the general outline, but it sounded workable...assuming she was able to walk.


    She pushed herself up and sat on the side of the bed.  Good.  Not dizzy, and it hadn''t been all that hard to sit up.  OK.  Now to see about standing up.


    Hmm....  Standing was OK, but she was more than a bit wobbly.  Before she could object, Stavros was next to her with his arm around her waist.  He grinned up at her. "Looks like you''ll have to do some more forgiving after we get you home, cause it looks like you''re gonna fall on your face if you try to get there without help."


    She tapped him on the face with her palm, just enough to sting a little.  "Cheeky boy.  You should be more respectful of your elders.  However, I suppose that, just this once, I''ll allow it.  Falling on my face in public would be exceedingly embarrassing."


    ''Suela smirked at them then turned and lead the way to their home.  The others followed, with Stavros supporting nearly half of Danica''s weight.


    As usual, Mimi opened the door just before ''Suela reached out to do so herself.  Mimi smiled at them and said jokingly, "Well, well, what have we here?  Has our Stavros finally found himself a girlfriend?  And why are you here so early?"


    Then she noticed the concerned expressions on the twins'' faces, and how much weight Danica was putting on Stavros, whereupon she muttered, "First Mario and now this child.  What are we, a hospital?"


    Upon hearing Mimi''s voice, Danica, who had been barely awake and looking mostly at the ground the past 100 meters or so, jerked her head up.  Whatever was this person talking about?


    Mimi caught her eye and, when the others were looking elsewhere for a moment, she winked at Danica, after which she said, "Well, don''t just stand there.  If we leave the door open a bug might fly in."


    Once inside she lead the way to the large bathing room.  As ''Suela made to take over from Stavros in supporting Danica, Mimi intervened.  "No.  Stavros will help her.  You go get Kaho."


    She looked intently at Danica for several seconds then added, "And the twins.  We''re going to need both of them this time.  Since they''re graduating next month, they don''t have class on Friday afternoons, so they''ll be at home."


    Then she murmured, "But not Jason.  That would be a bit too much for her to deal with."


    Looking at Consuela''s astonished face she asked, "Why are you still here?  Get going!"


    She got.

 Vol 4 - Ch 3 You Want Me To What?!

    Mimi lead the way into the bathroom. "RIght then. Stavros, you hold her while I get you both undressed, then sit her down on the stool and hold her while I wash her."


    Stavros looked at her, stunned into immobility by her words.


    Mimi sighed with exasperation. "All right. I guess I should explain, at least this time. Don''t count on it being a regular occurrence."


    Stav nodded dumbly, so Mimi continued, "She''s far more ill than she looks, which is why I sent for Kaho and the twins. In fact, she''s nearly unconscious right now. ''Suela might be willing, but she isn''t nearly strong enough to support her, which leaves you. Oh, yes, I could do so, but there is no way in the world that I''m going to allow you to see me unclothed. You DO understand that, yes?"


    Stavros nodded vigorously.


    Mimi looked at him again, and said gently, "Besides, you''re much like Jason. You''re not going to care all that much about seeing naked girls until you find the one you fall in love with. I know for a fact that you''ve never, even once, tried to peep into the girls'' changing room at school."


    She finished in a harsher tone, "Unlike so many of the other boys."


    As she was speaking, she''d deftly gotten Danica undressed, gestured for Stavros to get her seated on one of the bathing stools, and then had begun to get him out of his clothes as well while he kept Danica from falling on the floor. Once Mimi''d finished, she proceeded to sluice both of them off with several buckets of warm water.


    While most of his attention was on keeping Danica from falling, he did notice that, no matter how vigorously she poured out the water, not a single drop ended up on Mimi''s uniform or shoes.


    Mimi nodded. "That''s enough for now. Her hair will have to wait for another time. Go ahead and pick her up and get into the pool. Oh, and you don''t have to pretend that you''re weaker than you really are, like you do at school."


    Danica had been, mostly, unaware of what was going on around her, other than noticing how nice the warm water had felt. She''d not had a decent bath for several months. However Mimi''s words about Stavros'' strength partially woke her up. Ah ha! That explained why he''d appeared to have trouble lifting her at school but had been able to hold her so firmly at the same time.


    Her eyes were still closed when she heard splashing and then Mimi''s voice, "No, not at the edge! She''s so weak that she''ll fall right over if you sit next to her, even if you''re holding her arm. Go out into the middle and position her facing you with her legs on either side of you. Yes, facing you. If you sit behind her, she could still slip down, and I seriously doubt that she''s going to want you grabbing her chest to keep her from going under. If you do it the way I told you, no matter which way she starts to fall over, you''ll be able to keep her head above water.


    "You DO know what Kaho will do to you if you let Danica inhale any of the water, don''t you?"


    Stavros'' falsetto reply, "OH MY GOD! Yes, of course, facing me. Right away!" elicited a tiny giggle from Danica.


    The center of the bath was about 15 centimeters deeper than the edges, so as to facilitate easier drainage when it was being cleaned. Thus, once they were in position, the water was right at Stavros'' chin, and just below Danica''s shoulders.


    "Oh my, this feels lovely." Danica sighed.


    She opened her eyes and saw Stavros'' face only centimeters away. Before she could react, he exclaimed, "Wow! I didn''t notice before, but your eyes are gold. And your pupils are like a cat''s. They''re so pretty!"


    Gold eyes? Cat pupils? Everyone, even her family, had always said that her eyes were brown. Only her maternal grandmother, and the Wise One, had said that they were gold. Danica had never seen a real mirror, though she''d seen her face reflected in water many times. But water was rarely still, and she''d never seen her face clearly.


    Without thinking, Danica leaned forward and briefly licked Stavros'' cheek. Praise Allah! She''d been right after all when she''d tasted her finger. No wonder the Wise One had been grinning so hugely at Danica when they''d left her home. If they weren''t so many kilometers and months away, she''d go back there and shake the Wise One till her head rattled. Then she''d hug her.


    Well, imagining was fun, but reality called. She scooted closer to Stavros, until their chests were touching, then leaned forward, put her forehead on his, and began to chant.


    Stavros froze in shock, and Mimi, who was behind Stavros, smiled as she saw in her mind two beings, one unaware of the other, fist pumping and shouting "YES!" As for herself, she sighed and relaxed. The last linkage was complete, and, so far at least, they hadn''t been discovered by the enemy.


    While that was going on, a golden glow began where Danica''s and Stavros'' foreheads were touching and gradually spread to encompass their entire bodies. It persisted for some time, and was still faintly present when Kaho, the twins, and Consuela bustled in through the door about 20 minutes later.


    As soon as she saw the two in the bath, and, more importantly, the light surrounding them, Kaho skidded to a stop and the other three piled into her back. She absently braced herself against their weight then smiled tenderly. So... Phase IV was finally finished.


    After a few seconds she cleared her throat, which broke Danica''s concentration and drew her attention.


    "I''m Dr. Fukui. These two are my assistants, Yoko and Hibiki. We''re here to see about getting you better."


    Danica nodded. Her mind was barely working due to a combination of her illness, the effects of the spring water, and the realization of just who Stavros was. Stavros did nothing other than sit, not thinking much at all. His predominate emotion was surprise. He''d not realized that holding a girl could actually be a pleasant experience. Up to that point he''d still been much like Paolo at the same age and had though of them mostly as annoyances.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    As always, Kaho took charge. "Consuela - out. You''re not needed. Yoko and Biki, get some towels onto the massage table, and some others to dry the children with. Mimi - please stay for now. I don''t know yet if I''ll need you or not."


    ''Suela frowned, but, when faced with even bigger frowns on the faces of both Kaho and Mimi, she beat a hasty retreat.


    The twins scurried about and arranged the towels.


    Once all was in readiness, Kaho glared at Stavros, "Well, get on with it. Pick her up and get her on the table so I can see what''s what."


    "Uh. OK. But, how do I pick her up when she''s like this?"


    Kaho huffed. "You, girl, ah, Danica? Put your arms around his neck. Stavros, after she does that, put your hands on her cheeks, stand up, then carry her over to the table."


    She did a credible "Why me?" then broke out laughing when Stavros, looking very puzzled, lifted his hands and put them on Danica''s cheeks. The twins fell to their knees, laughing their heads off, and even Mimi was seen to be grinning.


    Kaho shook her head to regain her composure then said, "Her OTHER cheeks you blockhead."


    Stavros said, "Oh...", began to move his hands, then stopped. "But, ah...."


    Danica put one hand on each side of his face and turned it to look at her. Her eyes were nearly closed and she looked to be nearly asleep. She started to speak but no sound came out. After licking her lips she managed to whisper, "It''s all right, just this once. After today, no, not until we''re married, or, perhaps, when we''re engaged." She shook herself. "But we can work that out later. For now, do what the good doctor said."


    As soon as she finished speaking, Danica''s eyes fluttered shut, and her head fell forward onto Stavros'' shoulder.


    By then Stavros'' mind was barely working, and he''d missed everything she''d said after saying it was OK to lift her that way. As it was, he blushed and said, "Uh, yeah, if you say so, I guess..."


    Stavros stood, exited the pool, sat her precariously on the edge of the table, then turned to leave, only to be stopped by Danica''s hand on his arm. "No. Do not leave ma??¨±q. I know none of these people. I do not wish to be alone with total strangers."


    So saying, she took his hand and thereafter refused to let go.


    As they were getting out of the pool, Mimi turned to ''Suela and asked, "Why are you still here?"


    ''Suela backed out of the room so fast that she almost tripped.


    The twins dried off Danica, Mimi did likewise for Stavros, then both were put in robes. Danica was positioned on her back on the massage table, after which she reclaimed Stavros'' hand.


    Kaho strode to the head of the table and put her hands on Danica''s shoulders. "Give me a minute."


    The "minute" stretched into five, after which Kaho sighed, then turned to Mimi. "Fixable, definitely, but I''ll need both of the twins and Ailin if we''re not to exhaust ourselves."


    Looking down at Danica she said, "I have no idea how you''ve managed to deceive your family for such a long time. You must have been feeling miserable for several months at least, yes?"


    Danica''s eyes remained closed but she blushed faintly. "Oh, yes, that. Well, it was a hard journey, and they had so much to worry about already. I didn''t want to add more to their burden."


    Kaho glared at her, then her expression softened. "Children can be so stupid. If you''d told them what was wrong, of course they would have been worried. But then they''d have tried to fix things, yes? If you''d died, and you would have if your trip had lasted as much as another month, how do you think they''d have felt?"


    Danica pulled Stavros to her, threw her free arm around him, and began to weep. Stavros, awkwardly put his left hand on her right shoulder and held her until she was able to stop crying.


    Kaho grimaced. She''d almost let "propriety" worsen things...again! She''d intended to have Stavros leave, but, clearly, that would have been a major error. Sometimes the patient knows better than the doctor what they need. That was one more thing to add to her her list of things to improve.


    Once she had stopped crying, Biki blotted Danica''s eyes. Then Kaho continued, "Danica, you''re suffering from malnutrition, which is part of the reason why you''re so skinny, but you also have a hookworm infection, and that has made you severely anemic."


    Seeing Danica looking at her blankly, Kaho mentally hit herself upside the head, and started over. "You have tiny worms in your gut that are sucking out your blood and making you weak. That, along with being chronically dehydrated, has also affected your kidneys and your liver.


    "Fortunately, we can easily get rid of the worms, but building you back up to where you can function reasonably normally will take about two weeks. Once we get that far, I''ll decide what further therapy you will need."


    She raised her voice, "I know you''re listening at the door Mrs. Donetti. I''d prefer for Danica not to leave till then. If she does, it''s highly likely that she''ll relapse. Would you allow her to use one of your guest rooms?"


    The door opened and Miranda entered. Danica saw a tall, dark-skinned woman with a crown of silver hair. She squeezed Stavros'' hand harder. This woman was more scary than Kaho.


    Miranda approached, and put her palm on Danica''s right hand. "As-sal¨¡mu ?alayki little one. You are welcome here."


    Danica immediately relaxed, smiled, and replied, "Wa?alaykumu as-sal¨¡m. My thanks to you for your hospitality."


    Ailin appeared at the door, and Miranda excused herself. Kaho introduced Ailin as "this is Ailin, another one of my assistants," which helped Danica, who had tightened up upon the appearance of another stranger, relax a little, though she was still holding Stavros'' hand tightly.


    "We''ll do this differently today, and I''ll need to make some adjustments so as to exclude Stavros from the field.


    "Danica, we need to put a moist cloth over your face while we treat you. Is that OK?"


    Danica nodded.


    "Good. Now, Mimi and Ailin; both hands on her feet please. Yoko, you take her right hand and Biki, you put your hands on her left wrist. I''ll take the shoulders."


    Once they were all in position, Kaho said, "It''s OK Danica, all you need to do is relax and concentrate on getting better."


    Danica nodded again, and they began.


    As when Kaho healed Mario, Miranda saw multicolored flashes of light leaking out from under the door. Likewise, as she had with Eugenia in the past, when ''Suela, who had been hovering while hoping to hear what was being said, began to ask what was going on, Miranda laid a finger across her lips to silence her.


    When they were finished, Kaho came out and shut the door. "That was harder than it was with Mario. I told her that if she''d not been treated within a month she would have died. In reality, she had only about a week. We had to practically rebuild all the organs in her abdomen.


    "It''s a good thing that she wasn''t my first severe patient. I don''t think I could have helped her a year ago."


    She smiled gently, "Fortunately it''s now and not then. She''s likely going to be fine.


    "She is going to need a lot of rest, even more food -- probably about six or seven small meals a day for now -- and some tutoring so she won''t fall behind in school."


    Looking down at ''Suela, she drawled, "I wonder if Heidi and Sara would mind another student?"


    ''Suela grinned back. "Gee. I wonder... HAH! Those two will probably be ecstatic. I can''t wait to tell them when they get home."


    Next she turned to her mother, put on her "I''m going to die if I don''t find out," face and asked, "Mother, what does ma??¨±q mean?"


    Miranda was puzzled by the sudden change of topic and asked, "Why are you asking that all of a sudden?"


    "Because that''s what Danica called Stav just before Mimi kicked me out of the room just now. I don''t even know what language that is." After asking, ''Suela''s face morphed into her most frustrated expression. Like everyone else in the family, she hated not knowing things.


    Miranda smiled at ''Suela''s expression, then frowned, and, finally, shrugged her shoulders. It looked as if a certain someone was meddling again.


    "Well my darling, ma??¨±q is Arabic, as were the greetings we exchanged. It means ''beloved''."


    ''Suela''s hands flew to her cheeks. "Oh my God!"


    She thought for a few seconds then smiled up at her mother and Kaho. "I don''t think I''m going to tell him what it means. Are you?"


    She was met by two conspiratorial grins.

 Vol 4 - Ch 4 Making Plans

    In the bathing room, Yoko and Hibiki were introducing themselves and, not incidentally, gently probing Danica for information.  "Oh, I see. You''re from, Nubia then.  You''re the first person I''ve met from there, though I''ve heard about it.  Does that mean that you''re Muslim, like Mrs. Donetti?"  As always, Yoko had taken the brakes off of her mouth, and she was speaking so quickly that Danica barely understood her.


    "Like Mrs. Donetti?  Just her?" Danica asked with a quizzical expression.


    "Ah, that is right.  You are newly arrived," declared Hibiki.


    Once Danica had turned to face her, Biki continued, "People from all over the world gather here.  We have Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, and people of a number of other faiths.  It is not uncommon for families to not all be of the same religion."


    Gesturing at herself and Yoko, she added, "Our father is Buddhist, and our mother is Christian.  As you know, Mrs. Donetti is Muslim.  Mr. Donetti is Christian."


    "How interesting," Danica said.  "But, don''t you get confused when holy days occur?"


    Yoko smiled at her.  "Nah.  Things got pretty much sorted out over the past 400 years or so, but, since there are many more Christians here, the Christian holidays are those most loudly celebrated."


    After so saying, Yoko, Stavros, and Biki all winced slightly as they remembered the Festa bells.  Seeing that they were uncomfortable, though misunderstanding the reason, Danica remained silent.  It seemed that the reason for their discomfort would best be pursued at a later time.


    The door opened and Miranda bustled in.  "Well Danica, it appears that you will be staying with us for the next two weeks or so."


    As Danica opened her mouth to protest, for several reasons, Miranda added, "Dr. Fukui says that you will stay."


    She smiled at Danica with an expression of both humor and exasperation.  "You don''t, EVER, argue with her when it comes to medical decisions."


    Lowering her voice and leaning forward, she muttered, "Nobody in the entire City is stupid enough to even think of trying."


    Straightening to her full height, she declared, "Therefore... Stavros!  Carry Danica to the spare bedroom on the second floor.  She''ll probably be most comfortable there as it''s across from ''Suela and Heidi''s room.


    "''Suela, you go to Cook and get Danica a snack...but no sweets, at least not today.  If we bollux up Kaho''s work by giving her junk food, she''ll...well, you know."


    ''Suela flinched, turned, and headed toward the kitchen.


    Stavros followed his mother''s directions and found Mimi standing by the door of the guest room and gesturing for him to proceed her inside.  Upon entering, Stavros found the bed turned down and several pillows positioned so that Danica could sit up in bed.


    Shortly after they had Danica comfortable, ''Suela appeared with a small apple, half a sandwich, and a glass of cider.


    Miranda caught Mimi''s eye.  They nodded at each other, then left and closed the door.  Danica would likely be much more comfortable without adults in the room.


    The children watched them leave then turned back to each other.  ''Suela hid her grin and locked down her emotional link with Stavros as she said to Danica, "Dr. Fukui said that you''re to eat a small meal at least six times a day.  Large meals are out because she doesn''t want you stressing the repairs she made."


    Danica nodded.  She didn''t have an iota of an idea what ''Suela meant by "repairs", but she had learned years earlier that it was generally a good idea to follow the orders of an accomplished physician.


    "So...in order to do what Dr. Fukui told you, you''d best eat what I just brought you." ''Suela finally let her grin show, though it was more of a smirk. "And you can''t do that if you don''t let go of Stav''s hand."


    Danica and Stavros looked down.  Neither remembered taking the other''s hand after he''d laid her on the bed.  Rather than jerking their hands back in embarrassment, they disengaged slowly, with obvious reluctance.  Once they''d let go. ''Suela plopped the tray with the snack on Danica''s lap.


    Turning to Stavros she shooed him out of the room.  "Get going."


    "Get going?  Where?"


    "Turn your mind on dolt!  You need to get dressed, go back to school, and get all of our things.  Once you''ve gathered them up, you can explain what happened to Mrs. Chandler, then wait for Danica''s aunt and escort her here.


    "Besides, Mimi sent Rosalind to school to wait for Danica''s family in case they show up early.  However, she''s going to need Rosa here to help get ready for dinner.  Not to mention that it''s wasteful to pay a maid to stand around at school when you can do it for free, so send her back as soon as you get there."


    Glaring at Stavros'' stunned expression she explained, "Mimi sent Rosa to school as soon as she heard Kaho say that Dani would be staying here.


    "So...scoot!"


    Stavros headed for the door, slowly.  There was an air of confusion about him, as if his mind was half-asleep, but go he did.  Once the door had closed, ''Suela turned her attention to Danica and made sure that she ate all of her snack.  Once she''d finished, and ''Suela had helped Danica reposition herself, ''Suela smiled, focused her full attention on Danica, and said, "All right.  Explain.  We have about an hour considering when school ends and how long afterwards it will take Stav to get back here with your aunt.  So, there''s plenty of time."


    It was Danica''s turn to be confused.  "Ah...all right.  Explain what?"


    ''Suela would have face-palmed, but at the last second she realized just how ill Danica was and how exhausted she probably was after all that Kaho had done for her.


    So, instead of snapping at her in frustration, ''Suela took a slow, deep breath and started over,  "Sorry.  I guess I was jumping too far ahead.  What I mean is, well, my mother explained what ma??¨±q means.  Since we''ve just met, I hardly know you, but no woman I know would say something like that unless she truly meant it.  If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "Well, what I mean is...ah...why''d you call that idiot brother of mine something like that?"


    By the time she finished speaking, both of them were blushing.


    Danica brought both hands to her cheeks as she finally threw off the muzziness caused by her illness and the after-effects of Kaho''s healing and realized that what had happened in the past two hours wasn''t some sort of dream induced by her fever.  "Oh...my."


    In her mind she quickly replayed everything that had happened since she collapsed at school.  Eventually she got to the part where Mimi was undressing her.  As she remembered what happened after that, it felt like everything went into slow-motion.


    Once the replay had finished, she slid her hands over to cover her entire face then fell forward and buried her head in the covers on the bed.  She wasn''t nearly fast enough to prevent ''Suela from seeing that her face had now assumed a color that would put a ripe tomato to shame.


    Hiding her face accomplished only one thing.  It let ''Suela see that even Dani''s ears and neck were as red as her face.


    Instead of laughing, ''Suela began to gently rub Danica''s back while at the same time saying, "It''s all right, or, rather, it will be all right.  There''s nothing to worry about."


    Danica snuck a peek at ''Suela through a gap in her fingers.  Seeing that ''Suela was entirely serious, she asked, "How can you possibly know something like that?"


    ''Suela giggled.  "As for that, well, I know it may be hard to believe, but what''s happened today is far less dramatic than some things we''ve had to deal with in the past."


    Pushing herself up with both arms, Danica pivoted toward ''Suela with an astonished expression.  "Are you serious?!"


    Nodding soberly, ''Suela answered, "Oh, my, yes.  It''s not that things like today happen every day, or even every month.  Still, things as least this strange have happened, oh, let''s see...  Probably about three other times in the past two years."


    By the time ''Suela had finished speaking, Danica''s mouth was hanging open.  ''Suela reached out and gently pushed it shut.


    "Don''t worry.  We can handle it.  Now that I think about it, it''s probably a good thing that you''re older than Stav.  He tends to get involved in some crazy things at times.  Being married to someone more mature than he is will definitely be a good thing."


    "M..ma...married?!"


    "Obviously that''s what''s going to happen.  Given what you''ve said, and what happened today, how could it be possible that you''d ever want anyone else?"


    Suela helped Danica sit up then gently took her hands.


    "You both are going to have at least three years and change to get used to the idea, so don''t worry about it now."


    Her expression morphed into one that was deadly serious.  "Besides, we have much more important things to deal with today, starting right now I think.


    "How much can we safely tell your family about what just happened?  One thing I''ve seeni is that Muslims in The City  are generally even more strict about their daughter''s relationships with unrelated boys than Christians are.  However, even Christian families would go up in flames if they learned that their daughter was in the bath with a strange boy."


    As ''Suela was by then staring at the ceiling, she didn''t see the horror on Danica''s face.  So she continued, thinking out loud, "Let''s see.  We should be OK with almost all the truth.  We just have to change one small part.  Since everyone else around you was a woman, all we have to do is say that I was the one who helped you in the bath and that it was ''Stav who was sent for Dr. Fukui."


    Finally looking down, ''Suela saw the face of someone who had been drowning and had just been rescued.


    "If we have Kaho tell your aunt why you''re staying here, there should be no problem.  There''s nobody in The City with enough balls to argue with ''The Tree Woman''."


    ''Suela giggled at Danica''s look of surprise.  "It''s OK.  She knows that everyone calls her that.


    "So, I need to go make sure that everyone tells the same story.  As for you...."  ''Suela fixed Danica with a piercing expression, but ruined the effect by laughing.


    "Well, anyway, you looked completely wiped out, so you need to take a nap.  I''ll come wake you just before it''s time to bring your aunt in.


    "Oh, and when we do that, it would probably be best if you looked even more exhausted than you really are.  If you kept your family from noticing how sick you were on your trip, you''re probably a good enough actress to look the opposite of healthy, right?"


    Danica nodded slowly.  Things were going much, much too fast.  As she tried to figure out what to do, ''Suela decided for her and helped her slide down and turn onto her side so she could rest.


    By the time ''Suela closed the door, Danica was already asleep.


    -----------------


    "OK Stav. Do you see anything that we need to deal with that I haven''t covered?


    "Nope. Not a single thing sis.  When you''re older, you may, maybe, be as good at ''arranging'' things as Sara is."


    "Wow!  A compliment.  I''m going to store that away and remind you the next time you tell me I''m an idiot."


    Stav could feel her smiling over their link as she said, "Gotta hurry if I"m going to find everyone and get them all up to speed  on what they need to say.  Catch you later."


    Once Stavros was sure that ''Suela''s attention was elsewhere, he broke down laughing.  There was no way in the world that with Mimi, their mother, AND Kaho in the building, they hadn''t already thought of the plan that ''Suela had just outlined.


    Even so, he''d not wanted to say anything about it.  ''Suela had reasoned it out by herself, and that was something to be proud of.  In his experience, most kids their age rarely thought about the consequences of their actions until it was far too late to do anything about it.


    He winced as he realized how much that applied to his own behavior in the past month.  Lesson learned...he hoped.  Having your nose rubbed in your stupidity, especially if you were doing it to yourself, was exceedingly painful.


    Oh well.  First things first.  He was almost at the school.


    He dropped in at the nurse''s office to report to Mrs. Chandler.  She was pleased to find out that Dr. Fukui had already seen Danica, and especially happy that she didn''t have a contagious illness, but she was also distressed to find out that her return to school might be delayed until just a month before Spring Break.


    Stavros was pleased to see that some kind soul had brought all their things to the nurse''s office, which meant that he''d not have to wait till after school to get them.  He wanted to be outside before the earliest possible moment that Danica''s aunt could arrive.


    After gathering everything, Stavros decided that it would be best to also report to  Mrs. Krait, the headmaster.  She could let all the teachers know what was going on much more efficiently than Stavros could.


    As he knocked on her door, he realized that, if he''d done it all himself, she''d likely have been more than slightly ticked that he''d not come to her first.


    Once he was admitted, he explained the situation and that Danica would be living at his home for the next two weeks, or longer if Dr. Fukui deemed it necessary.


    "I see.  That being the case, it would probably be best if you or Consuela took her classwork home with you."


    Mrs. Krait looked at Stavros thoughtfully.  "I presume that Sara is likely to be enlisted to aid Danica with her studies?"


    Stavros nodded and grinned wickedly at the headmaster.  "We haven''t discussed it yet, but, knowing her, I suspect that we''d have to chain her to the wall to keep her from doing exactly that."


    Stavros was totally shocked when Mrs. Krait threw back her head and launched a bark of laughter at the ceiling.  Then she pointed at him and wagged her finger.  "First of all, you are never to tell ANYONE that I laughed.


    Headmasters aren''t supposed to have a sense of humor. If anyone found out, it would spoil my image."


    She fixed her gaze on him and continued, "You probably won''t be any more happy than I would if someone finds out.  Capice?"


    Stavros nodded vigorously then smiled at her.  "Not a chance that I''d tell anyone.  Half the fun in life is knowing secrets that nobody else does!"


    Upon hearing that, Mrs. Krait''s eyebrows rose, and she decided that she''d have a little talk with Stavros'' mother about what he''d just said.   It likely wasn''t necessary, but making decisions based on what was "probably" going to happen often resulted in a surprise that was, at best, unpleasant and, at worst, deadly.


    Bringing herself back to the moment she said, "I suspect that you''d best go wait for Danica''s aunt now.  I''ll take care of everything else.  Scoot!"


    `    He did, she smiled, and then she got back to work.  Danica''s problem was hardly the only one she still had to deal with today.

 Vol 4 - Ch 5 Meeting the Family

    Some 10 minutes before school was due to let out, Stavros spotted two women wearing hijabs heading toward the school.  One was striding along confidently while the other was gawking at her surroundings.  So...likely Danica''s aunt and her mother.  He''d not expected both, but it really didn''t matter.


    As they neared the entrance, Stavros stepped out, bowed and asked, "Are you two ladies perhaps Danica Karongo''s aunt and mother?"


    They exchanged a glance.  Neither knew this boy, so why was he speaking to them?  Her aunt recovered first and asked in turn, "Why is it that you ask, and, while we''re at it, who are you?"


    "I beg your pardon.  I''m Stavros Donetti.  I''m one of Miss Karongo''s classmates.  Mrs. Krait, the headmaster, asked me to speak to you."


    He gestured to the side of the road, "Please, join me over there.  It would be best not to block the street."


    As they moved in the direction he''d pointed, he updated ''Suela.  "I''ve met them...yes ''them''.  Her mother came too.  I expect that we''ll be there within 10 minutes."


    "OK. Got it. I''ll let the others know."


    By then, the ladies had reached the wall and turned to him with questions in their eyes.


    "Please be at peace ladies.  Nothing horrible has befallen Danica.  For some reason, she developed a fever at lunch time.  The school nurse, Mrs. Chandler decided that she should go home.


    "Of course you see the problem.  She doesn''t know where her home is yet and had no way to contact you.  Therefore my sister Consuela suggested that Danica go to our home where she could be treated by a physician as soon as possible."


    He made a show of glancing at the passersby in the street, while still watching Danica''s family out of the corner of his eye as he continued, "Knowing that you would likely not want a strange male physician examining her, our mother summoned a skilled  physician who is also female."


    He noticed that their shoulders relaxed as he mentioned Kaho.


    Turning fully toward them, he offered, "My mother has sent me to guide you to our home where you may converse with her and Dr. Fukui.  I''m sure that they will be able to answer all of your questions.


    "Will you please follow me?"


    After a hurried, whispered conversation, Danica''s aunt nodded.  He led them to his home and was surprised to see that his mother answered the door.  Uncharacteristically, she was wearing her headscarf indoors.


    As soon as he saw her, Stavros stepped aside, his mother stepped forward, and she said, "As-sal¨¡mu ?alaykunna".


    The ladies both responded with, "as-sal¨¡mu ?alayki" and, clearly relieved, were ushered into the house and then to the family parlor, where they were introduced to Kaho.


    Stavros made to follow them, but he was intercepted by Mimi''s scowl and a whispered, "Idiot.  Remember what your mother taught you about women in Muslim households?  This is ''Suela''s job."


    Turning to ''Suela, who had been hovering around a corner, Mimi said, "Go.  Stand just inside the door of the parlor but say nothing until your mother introduces you.  When she does, you bow and you still say nothing, but be sure to smile.  You don''t know any Arabic yet, and if you try to repeat what you heard earlier, you''ll mangle it and might upset our guests.  Also, you are not to sit unless your mother invites you to do so.


    "Do you understand?"


    ''Suela nodded and hurried to comply.


    Next Mimi turned to Stavros.  "Go find Rosalind and tell her that she''s going to be in charge of supervising dinner.  After that, take yourself to the Little Cathedral and brief Sara and Paolo.  We don''t want them blindsided when they arrive home.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.    "I''ll attend to those in the parlor."


    ---------------------------


    As Mimi arrived at the parlor, she could see that Danica''s aunt and mother had just fallen back on the settee due to shock from having heard Kaho''s report.  As always, no matter how hard she tried to be diplomatic, Kaho had told the unvarnished truth.


    Mimi nodded.  Her timing was good.  She busied herself with serving tea, gesturing for Consuela to aid her.  Getting settled and taking a sip of tea allowed Danica''s family to take some deep breaths and calm themselves.


    Kaho finally managed to come up with a way to soften her report.  "Regardless of how precarious your daughter''s health was, that is no longer a major concern.  As long as she gets sufficient rest, and works to improve her health, given time, she should recover fully."


    Danica''s mother Miriam nodded.  Her aunt Zaynab seemed somewhat skeptical, but she did eventually nod as well.


    After a further half hour of discussion, the only remaining sticking point revolved around Danica living in the Donetti home until she was stronger.  The problem was one of saving face as much as it was concern about living with strangers.


    Finally Miranda asked, "Does not the Holy Quran say that one should do good to neighbors who are near and neighbors who are strangers?  Will you not allow us to follow the words of the Prophet by aiding you in this matter?  It is true that we are strangers, but in The City we are all neighbors."


    After that, Danica''s family sat quietly, saying nothing further as they considered the matter.


    Finally Miranda stood, approached them, and held out her hand.  "Come.  Let us go see your daughter, then you may make your final decision."


    Miriam nodded firmly, took Miranda''s hand, and stood.


    Miranda tucked Miriam''s hand under her arm, then they walked side-by-side down the hall and up the stairs to the second floor.  Zaynab followed behind, with Mimi and Consuela at the rear.


    As they walked Miranda was explaining something of how the household functioned, "We have a small room on the first floor that is dedicated to prayer.  There is water for proper purification, and there are salii.  I shall arrange for someone to help Danica to the room at the appropriate times. Also, all food in the house is either halal or kosher."


    She smiled at Miriam. "You also need not worry about Danica falling further behind in her studies.  My daughter-in-law Sara is the head librarian in The City and is already tutoring two other girls in our home.  I''ve not had time to tell her about Danica yet, but I guarantee that she will be thrilled to have another student to work with."


    Upon hearing all this, Miriam would have stopped still due to shock, but the steady pull of Miranda''s arm kept her moving.


    "Ah, here we are."  Miranda pointed to the room on the left. "That room is shared by my daughters Consuela and Heidi."  Gesturing to the right, she continued, "We have Danica in this room."


    As she was speaking, she quietly opened the door on the right and peeked in.  Danica was still  asleep since ''Suela had not been able to sneak away to awaken her.  Miranda laid her finger across her lips and led the others to Danica''s bedside.


    Miriam knelt by the bed, took Danica''s hand, and began to sing what sounded like a lullaby.


    Danica''s eyes fluttered, then opened fully as she turned her head toward her mother.  "I''ve always loved that song.  You only sing it when someone in the family has been ill, and you know that they are going to live."


    She laid her right hand on top of her mother''s.  "I''m sorry about not telling you.  I was so worried for you all that I just couldn''t say anything."


    Then she burst into tears and threw her arms around her mother.


    Soon there were no dry eyes in the room, and handkerchiefs were much in evidence.


    ---------------------


    The surprises were still not over.  As Danica''s relatives were in the entryway saying goodbye, the door opened.  Sara was preceeded in by Paolo, who was still wearing his cassock.  Danica''s mother and aunt pulled back, suddenly afraid that here was another Christian who would try to convert their daughter.


    Their fears were quickly put to rest.  Seeing two women in hijabs, Paolo stopped before fully entering the house and spoke, "As-salamu alaykum".


    Though they were still somewhat in shock, the ladies automatically responded, "Wa ¡®alaykum al-salaam".


    Miranda said, "This is my son Paolo."


    Miriam and Zaynab turned to each other and exchanged a look that said everything.  This house, and the people in it, were much stranger than they could ever have imagined.


    When they turned back toward the door, Sara spoke, "As-sal¨¡mu ?alaykunna".


    Again Danica''s family responded.  The ritual greetings had comforted them, allowing Miranda to hurriedly arrange her thoughts. "This is Sara of whom I spoke."


    Gesturing to the ladies, she added, "These ladies are Miriam and Zynab Karongo.  They are the mother and aunt of Danica, who will be staying with us for a few weeks."


    Attracted by the voices, Kaho loomed behind Miranda, who turned to her and said, "I''m sure that Dr. Fukui will be pleased to explain the situation to you in more detail.  So, Paolo, Sara, if you would please follow her to the family parlor?"


    The pair followed Kaho down the hall while Miranda arranged with Danica''s mother the times she planned to visit the next day.  After she saw them out the door, she leaned against the wall and took several deep breaths.  It was almost time for dinner, and she still had a number of items on her desk that needed doing today regardless of how tired she was or how much time she''d lost dealing with Danica and her family.


    Standing around feeling sorry for herself would accomplish precisely nothing, so she pushed herself off the wall and headed upstairs.

 Vol 4 - Ch 6 Getting Acquainted

    "All right.  We understand the situation, at least as it has developed so far," said Sara with a big smile.  "The twins have proven before that they have an incredible ability to get the family involved in strange situations.  First it was the orphans from Metz and now this."


    She and Paolo both laughed then stood.  "Very well.  We''d best get upstairs and changed for dinner.  Will you join us Kaho, or do you have other plans?"


    "I shall be pleased to join you.  I had no specific plans for my dinner, and this will save both time and the money I''d have to spend if I ate out.  After we eat I can check Danica one more time before I go home."


    She stood and headed toward the door, then looked back over her shoulder.  "I''ll send Jason over sometime tomorrow with my bill.  I''ve been here several hours, so it will be substantial.  Don''t worry though, I''ll make sure that he arrives before you get home for lunch.  That way you won''t have to listen to your mother complain about the amount."


    They both chuckled, then took themselves upstairs to get changed, while Kaho headed down the hall to the washroom reserved for guests.


    ------------------------------


    Heidi had been delayed at school and had arrived home just in time for dinner.  ''Suela was whispering in her ear as they entered the dining room, and continued to do so after they were seated.  Based on the frequency of Heidi''s nods, it was clear that ''Suela was filling her in on what had transpired that afternoon.


    While it was indeed clear what ''Suela was doing in general, the adults present, with the exception of Miranda and Mimi, were extremely puzzled when Heidi suddenly blushed beet red and clapped her hands over her mouth, followed by Stavros suddenly dropping his head and blushing as well.  Only Paolo noticed the wicked grin on ''Suela''s face and that both Miranda and Mimi rolled their eyes and did the "Why Me?" gesture. He''d talk to Sara after dinner.  Perhaps she''d have some idea as to what had just happened.


    Miranda cleared her throat.  "Heidi, you are NEVER, under any circumstances to repeat what ''Suela just told you.  EVER.  Do you understand?"


    Heidi stood and bowed to Miranda.  "Yes Ma''am.  As of this moment, it never happened."


    Miranda nodded, then smiled at Heidi.  She was coming along better than she''d even allowed herself to hope in the beginning.


    Thereafter, dinner proceeded as usual.


    --------------------------------


    After they finished, ''Suela, Heidi, and Sara trooped upstairs to Danica''s room.  ''Suela was carrying a substantial "snack" with her.  After knocking, they entered.


    Danica tracked them with her eyes and said nothing until after ''Suela had put the snack on the bedside table.  "I presume that these two lovely ladies are the sisters you told me about.  Heidi and...Sara?"  Danica cocked her head to the side and waited.


    "Yep.  I''d hoped that you''d been awake enough to remember their names when I told you.  You were still more than a little groggy then.  Not to mention that you''d been through more shocks in a day than most people see in a year."


    Sara suddenly saw the grin ''Suela usually wore right before she said something that totally embarrassed the person she was talking to, or, rarely, herself.  She didn''t always think all the way through her "jokes" and sometimes ended up skewering herself by accident.  Since ''Suela rarely listened to anyone else, Sara hoped that embarrassing herself in public might eventually get ''Suela to think at least for a few seconds before she opened her mouth.


    Not being willing to chance which way it would go this time, Sara stepped forward.  "That''s right.  I''m pleased to meet you."  She continued dryly, "Though I think both of us would have preferred it to be in a less unsettling manner."


    Then she smiled, and Danica, like anyone Sara smiled at, smiled back.


    "Indeed.  It has been a most unusual and...indeed, a momentous day."  Danica grinned wryly after speaking, and then shrugged her shoulders as an accent.


    Sara lifted an eyebrow at the latter statement, but wisely forbore to say anything about it.


    Instead she offered, "I trust that ''Suela explained how we tutor girls here?"


    "Somewhat.  Given that I shall be confined to this house for several weeks, I am certain that I shall understand in full within the next few days."


    Noticing how Danica''s eyes were darting back and forth from her face to the snack, Sara excused herself.   "You three girls can get better acquainted for a while. I''ll be back in half an hour to begin our first session."


    She stood and then pointed at ''Suela. "You''ll be joining us today.  Stavros brought your classwork with him, and he''s already finished.  Once you complete it, I''ll review it.  Pointing out your mistakes should help Danica understand it better."


    Danica noticed a momentary look of horror on ''Suela''s face, which was quickly followed by a resigned smile.  Heidi turned away briefly, coughed several times, then said, "I''ll go get our things.  It''s fortunate that there''s a folding table large enough to work on already in our room."


    Sara nodded then went to their room, where she and Paolo compared notes.  Some of the priests were FAR less flexible than he was.  They''d have to fill in Archbishop Comfort about Danica living with them first thing in the morning so she could be prepared to stomp on the more difficult clergy should the need arise.


    ------------------


    Contrary to what Danica had expected, Sara was far from being a strict taskmaster.  Instead the "tutoring" was more like a game than studying.  Oh, yes, she was very firm about what they needed to do, but she also exchanged small jokes with the others and even laughed briefly several times.


    When they were finished, she was more than tired.  Regardless, duty called and she forced herself to sit fully upright.  She bowed to Sara.  "I thank you for giving of your time to aid a stranger who has washed up upon your doorstep.  It is most gracious of you."Stolen novel; please report.


    "Gracious?  Not at all.  Both the Quran and the Bible instruct us to aid strangers who are in need.  You are, for the moment, a stranger, and you most certainly are in need.  We are blessed to have the opportunity to put what we have been taught into practice.


    "Now that I''ve said that, you need to relax.  Quit with all the formal language and just be yourself." Sara reached out and gently stroked Danica''s head.


    "I''ll plan on seeing you tomorrow after dinner.  For now, you three girls can gossip about whatever it is you''ve been trying so hard not to talk about in front of me."


    Sara strode to the door and turned as she put her hand on the knob. "Oh, and don''t worry.  I won''t tell anyone that instead of ''resting'' you''re going to be gabbing.  Fortunately you, at least, can sleep in tomorrow."


    She glared at Heldi and ''Suela. "You two had better not be sleep deprived when I see you at breakfast.  If you are, I shall be happy to chew on you for a while after your mother and Mimi have finished."


    She flashed them an impish grin then left the room and gently closed the door.  All the way back to her room, she was smiling.  She had no idea what was going on with the three of them, and wouldn''t speculate about her ideas with anyone anyway, but she did intend to let Paolo know that they were already getting along well.


    For a brief moment, she thought about telling Mimi as well, then bopped herself on the head.  Hah!  The idea that Mimi might not know, in detail, about something going on in her house was ludicrous. Sara shook her head at her stupidity.  Perhaps she was the one who was most in need of sleep.


    ----------------------


    "Oh my!" Heidi gasped.  "You WALKED all the way here from Nubia?  You didn''t take a boat even once?!"


    Danica shook her head in exasperation.  "I know, right?  We''d have arrived at least a year earlier if we had. However..."  A distracted look passed over her face as she stared at the ceiling.


    Then she blushed and murmured, "Maybe that''s what the Wise One and my mother were whispering about after the others had left..."  Her voice faded out and she continued to stare at nothing.


    Although she said nothing, her body spoke volumes as ''Suela and Heidi saw Danica''s blush deepen and move all the way down to her neck.


    After a while ''Suela couldn''t take it any more and she said in a teasing tone, "You''re thinking about Stav...ros."


    Danica shook her head to gather her thoughts, and awareness returned to her eyes.  She turned to face Heidi and ''Suela once more and saw that both of them had the same expression of excited anticipation -- the one you''d see on a kitten just before it pounced on a mouse.


    Realizing that she was trapped, she decided to tell them what she''d deduced.  "All right.  All right.  I''ll tell you, but you must solemnly swear to never, ever tell another living soul."


    Seeing that Dani was absolutely serious, the others composed themselves, looked at each other, nodded, then laid the palms of their right hands over their hearts,  "We so swear."


    Danica looked at them for several, long breaths, then nodded.  They''d just met, but she could feel their determination.


    "Very well.  In Alodia, it is customary to consult a Wise One before making any major decisions.  One prays about it first, of course, but we still believe in the ancient customs of our people.  It was she who said that we must walk the entire distance.  She explained it by saying that, since we weren''t rich, we would need to stop now and then so my father could work long enough to earn money to pay for our needs on the next part of our journey.  By walking, we would meet and get to know the people along the way and would then be able to tell where it would be profitable, and safe, to stop.


    "My father, being a very rational person, immediately agreed.  A silversmith deals with a valuable commodity after all, and revealing to the wrong people that we were carrying a substantial amount of silver with us could have been deadly."


    The other girls nodded, excited anxiety on their faces, but said nothing.  They didn''t want to accidently get Danica sidetracked.


    "My father and brothers hurried out after the Wise One spoke.  Now that she had agreed that our planned venture was not just a fool''s dream, they had much to do to finish preparing.  They didn''t see that the Wise One had taken my mother''s arm and pulled her aside, and she...."


    Her voice faltered, and she looked pleadingly at the other girls.  "You promised, right?  I''ll absolutely die of embarrassment if anyone else EVER hears about this."


    Wordlessly, the girls stood and walked to either side of the bed, whereupon each took one of Danica''s hands.  They held her hands over their hearts, leaned forward, and in turn kissed Danica on the forehead.


    They glanced at each other, then Heidi nodded.  This one was ''Suela''s to answer.


    "Dani, it''s like this.  We have secrets too, and we''ll share one with you to prove both that we trust you and that we''ll keep yours as long as we live.  Our mother works secretly for Duchess Henrietta.  I''ve been taught how, and why, to keep secrets since I was able to understand what a secret was.  You need have no fear that either of us will ever reveal yours."


    Danica, who had been looking at Consuela while she spoke, turned to Heidi for confirmation.  Before she could ask, Heidi said seriously, "It''s true.  Have no fear."  Then she grinned and added, "Future sister-in-law."


    Gently freeing her hands, Danica lifted her arms and wrapped them around the other girls.  It was definitely time for a hug.  They did likewise and none of them moved for quite some time.  Finally, they disengaged, Heidi and ''Suela sat down again, and Danica nodded.


    "I''m reasonably sure that neither my mother nor the Wise One knew I was behind a screen at the side of the room.  I was picking up something that I''d dropped.  When I heard the whispering, I froze where I was and listened.  You never know when what you hear by accident might be important, and you can''t hear it if you''re distracted, right?"


    Heida and ''Suela glanced at each other, nodded, smiled, then turned back to Danica.  When they were able to talk later, they''d bet on how long it would take their mother to recruit Danica as one of her informants.


    Danica, reasonably, thought that they were just agreeing with her, so she continued her story.  "Anyway, what the Wise One said was that we could travel part of the way by boat, safely, and arrive as much as a year earlier.  Then she said that if we did, my father would marry me off to some cousin or other shortly after we arrived as the one I was destined for would still be too young to make a favorable impression on him."


    The girls nodded.  This time it was Heidi''s turn to ask, "Have you already fallen in love with him then?"


    Danica was through with blushing.  If nothing else, she was too worn to do it any more.  She lifted her chin and said, "No.  Nothing like that.  At least not yet.  All I know so far is that he is strong, reliable in times of trouble, and that, probably, his middle name should be ''Mischief''."


    There were giggles all around, after which Danica continued, "But, when we were in the bath, and he held me against his heart, I could feel it.  It was like I was a key that had finally found the lock that it was meant to open.


    "That is why I performed the Chant of Binding.  Were I wrong, nothing would have happened except that I would have become somewhat more tired, and I was already so weary that a little more would have made no difference.


    "But, praise Allah, I was not mistaken.  I could feel our souls touching.  Neither of us will ever feel completely alone, ever again, no matter the distance or how many years separate us."


    Not even Danica had the faintest idea of what that last part meant, but the part they all did understand moved them in ways that they could not yet comprehend.  Without thinking about it, Heidi and ''Suela stood once more, sat on either side of the bed, wrapped their arms around Danica and each other, then all three cried happy tears.


    About half and hour later, Mimi was passing by the room.  Hearing giggling, she paused and smiled warmly in the direction of the door.  It looked as if things were going to get more complicated...and even more fun!

 Vol 4 - Ch 7 Setback

    Three days later, Danica was finally able to ''walk'' downstairs to join the family for a meal for the first time.  She couldn''t bear much of her weight, but, with both ''Suela and Heidi assisting, she managed.  When they arrived, she felt much as she had after the family had been walking for a full day and had been short of water.  Still, it was better than two days earlier, when she''d needed help just to sit up on the side of the bed.


    Fortunately, she''d been introduced to everyone already, though, truth be told, it was still intimidating to see everyone in the same room -- especially as they were all looking at her when she came through the doorway.  Still, the looks directed at her were friendly, and they all showed some degree of concern for her well-being.


    That it was true concern and not only on the surface had already been made clear to her.  Five times every day, someone had carried her downstairs so that she could pray in the room set aside for such.  To her great surprise, it had been the elder son Paolo who carried her for the nightly prayers.  She knew that he was Christian, and a priest at that, but he had actually volunteered to help her and had prayed along with her and his mother.  Before moving to The City, all she had know of Christians was that those in Soba were anything but friendly.  Oh, yes, they tolerated Muslims, but they also looked down on them.


    During dinner, she let the conversation flow around her and briefly answered the few questions directed toward her, but mostly she listened.  She had no idea at all why Mrs. Donetti had begun to smile at her about half-way through the meal.


    When it was time for prayer, Paolo again carried her.  When they were finished, she caught his sleeve and asked him, "Why are you doing this for me?  You''re a Christian and I''m Muslim.  I don''t understand."


    He turned to her and said, "Let me ask you a question as well.  After you answer mine, I''ll answer yours, OK?"


    Seeing her nod, he asked, "How many gods are there?"


    She began to sputter and managed to blurt out, "One.  There''s only one!"


    He nodded.  "Yes, that''s right.  So, if there''s only one god, are we not all worshiping the same god but just in different ways?  I think that if everyone really thought about it, and realized that single truth, our world would be a better place.  Frankly, and this is my personal opinion not that of the Church, but I have a strong suspicion that God doesn''t particularly care how we think of him.  I think that God is more concerned that we DO think of him, in whatever form we find most comfortable, rather than not thinking of him at all.


    "I also think that the Prophet taught his first followers to pray five times a day both as a lesson and as a hint of what more they might consider doing.  It''s not all that hard to go from prayer five times a day to thinking about God all day long, in everything we do.


    "You''re taught that even a few minutes of prayer is enough, so, consider this.  What if, instead of five minutes five times a day, you prayed for one minute 30 times a day, or 30 seconds every 15 minutes.  If it is sincere prayer, wouldn''t that be a wonderful thing?"


    Paolo shrugged, and looked embarrassed.  "Well, that''s just how I feel, which is why I help you.  I think that the more time a person spends thinking of God each day, the more they can grow as a person."


    He stooped, picked Danica up, and headed back upstairs.  "Please feel free to discuss what I''ve said with your imam.  If he thinks I''m wrong, or, worse, a stupid fool, well, that''s the way it will be.  Regardless, as a Muslim you should follow what he says.  Besides, who knows, God has been known to answer prayers.  Maybe you''ll get an answer that way as well."


    Danica nodded and did not speak further.


    Later, after Heidi and ''Suela had helped her get ready for bed, she decided that she would speak to the imam when the opportunity arose.  She was only 15 years old, and she knew that she needed spiritual advice from an authority when questions such as the one Paolo had raised were presented to her.  They were not something she had enough experience to resolve on her own.


    ---------------------------------


    Wednesday April 17 In The Year 726 AF


    "Hmmm."  Kaho stroked her chin several times then mumbled, "That''s not right."


    Danica lifted her head off the exam table and looked at Kaho, who was bending over and staring at her feet.  She still was more than a little intimidated by Kaho, but her curiosity overrode her apprehension.  "What are you talking about?"


    Kaho twitched, then straightened and looked at Danica. "Oh, right.  You''re here too."  She bonked herself on the forehead.  "Sorry.  Sometimes I get so caught up in an exam that I forget when I''m looking at a live person."


    Danica definitely didn''t want to pursue that train of thought, so all she did was ask, "What''s not right?"


    Kaho waved a hand in her direction.  "Well, I''m not sure, which is why I can''t say right now.  I''m not even 100% sure that I was right when I said that. So...  I think I''ll have one of the more experienced physicians here in The City come and take a look at you.  Trying to do everything by yourself, especially when you''re as young as I am, is beyond stupid!


    "So young lady.  For now we do nothing at all but what we''ve been doing.  Which means that I have a question for you.  How''s your head?  I don''t mean whether or not it hurts.  What I mean is are you still feeling muzzy or do you feel that you''re back to your normal level of alertness?"


    "Oh, well, yes...that.  I think I''m pretty much back to how I used to be.  It''s hard to say since I was so tired the past month or three."


    She pouted in Kaho''s direction, "No!  Don''t say anything.  You''ve already told me me, several times, about how stupid I was.  Even Sara brought it up twice.  I''ve heard more than enough.  Even if I didn''t care about how I felt, I''d still take proper care of myself from now on just to make sure that nobody ever gets after me like that again!


    "If you really want to know, ask Sara.  She''s been my teacher for almost a week now.  Surely she can tell you how my mind is working."


    Nodding thoughtfully, Kano replied, "I won''t bother going into how many ways a teacher can totally miss seeing what''s right in front of them and end up making wrong assessments.  However, given that it''s Sara we''re talking about, I think I shall follow your suggestion.  She almost never misses ANYTHING."


    Muttering softly, she added, "She''s nearly as good as Mimi."


    With some difficulty, Kaho restrained herself from asking Danica why she was suddenly blushing so furiously.


    -----------------------Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    Friday, April 19 4:39 p.m.


    Dr. Kastner stroked his chin in such a way that it was clear where Kaho had picked up the habit.


    (After hearing that Kaho wanted a second opinion, and that Dr. Kastner was the best physician to provide it. Miranda had arranged for the exam to take place at a time when Danica''s mother could be present so she could see that Danica''s modesty was not put at risk.)


    After the exam, he and the ladies went to the family parlor, where he explained what he''d discovered.  "I have seen what happened, and it is clear what caused the problem.  When the young lady was afflicted with the worms in her stomach, they stole some of the food that she ate.  In so doing, she herself was deprived of some essential nutrition, thus, there has been some damage to the nerves in her legs.


    Turning to Kaho he said, "This is why she is still so weak."


    Facing the others again he asked, "Mrs. Karongo.  While you were traveling, did you notice at any time that your daughter seemed to be having trouble with her balance, or that she stumbled now and then?"


    "Now that you mention it, the last two or three weeks she looked to be having trouble with both.  When I asked her about it, she said that she was just a bit tired and was feeling clumsy."


    She shrugged and spread her hands.  "By then we were all close to constantly exhausted, so I paid it little mind."


    Hearing that, Kaho face-palmed.  Having done so, she didn''t see Dr. Kastner throw a blistering glare in her direction.


    Lifting her head, Kaho''s expression was anguished.  "Mrs. Karongo, I offer you my most sincere and abject apologies.  I realize that I''ve been a total idiot, but, if you would please give me another chance and let me examine the rest of your family?"


    "What in the world are you talking about child?  I owe you my most profound thanks.  You have saved my daughter''s life!"


    Seeing that Kaho was on the verge of tears, Dr. Kastner interjected, "If I may Mrs. Karongo?  What Dr. Fukui is speaking of is simply this:  She was so focused on treating your daughter that she didn''t take time to think that those others who shared the journey with her, slept in the same tent, and ate the same foods, could well be expected to have the same problem as she.  Given that you have not mentioned anyone else in the family being obviously ill, it''s unlikely that we have, or will have, a problem as severe to deal with...likely because all the rest of you were adults and no longer growing.  However, each and every one of you should be examined in the next few days and treated if there should be a need."


    "Oh.  I see.  Yes, indeed.  That is quite reasonable.  But, there may be a problem.  All the others in our family are male.  They''d never admit to not feeling well.  Given that, agreeing to an examination by a physician, especially a woman, is highly unlikely."


    Miriam hurried to add, "I, of course, will be pleased to have Dr. Fukui examine me.  That way, at least we can be sure that the one preparing the food is healthy."


    Crossing his arms and smiling in such a way that all the others in the room flinched, Dr. Kastner said, "Please don''t worry yourself.  Just introduce me to them.  I''ll take it from there.


    "But that is that and this is this."  He uncrossed his arms and continued, "First I need to explain what must be done for Danica.  Because of the worms, she is the same as someone who has suffered from malnutrition for, probably, at least twice as long as you have been travelling.  There is significant damage to the nerves, some of which may not ever heal, even given the best treatment.


    "There are some medications that will help improve the blood flow throughout the body, but there are none that directly affect the nerves.  What we can do though is to make sure that she eats foods that contain the nutrients that she has been lacking.


    "Which means that your young lady, will be eating three eggs a day, every day, for at least the next six months.  In addition, she will need massage to her legs twice a day in order to both improve the blood flow and to stimulate the nerves."


    He focused a sympathetic look in Miriam''s direction. "Mrs. Karongo, even if she responds well to treatment, it is highly unlikely that your daughter will be able to walk unaided for quite some time, possibly for several years.  Fortunately, even in the worst case, I do expect that she will eventually be able to walk on her own, though she might require canes in order to do so."


    Miriam collapsed onto Kaho and began to weep.


    Later, when she was able to compose herself, the tears were dried, and the handkerchiefs put away, Miriam suddenly sat up straight and covered her mouth with the back of her left hand.  "Oh no!"


    Miranda was confused and asked, "What''s wrong?"


    "It''s my husband and my sons.  I know not how things are here, but in the Kingdom, a girl who, for any reason, is unable to be married, will no longer be supported by her family."


    Miranda nodded calmly, but the others recoiled in shock.


    Hurrying to continue Miriam said, "It''s not that anything would be done to her, but such a girl is almost always confined to the house for the rest of her life, where she will perform such limited duties as she is able.


    "Alodia is a harsh land, and, if your resources are limited, as most  families'' are, one must put what one has toward those who can contribute the most to the family in the future.  Those families that did not do this, tended not to survive."


    Nodding at the others, she continued, "I already understand that things are different here, and that one need not worry about such things to the same degree, but, still, I''m not sure how my husband and sons will react.  Men can be so troublesome at times..."


    Miranda let out a chuckle that contained no humor.  "Indeed, I have noticed the same thing.  I expect that such is the same throughout the world.  However, women always can find ways of dealing with men, especially if they have help from other women in the family."


    Seeing puzzlement in Miriam''s eyes, Miranda explained, "Danica has lived with us for over a week now.  She is no longer a stranger.  She is now part of our family.  Of course I will help you deal with your men.


    "Besides.  In The City, it is mandatory that children attend school.  Those who do not send their children to school will be severely penalized."


    Walking over to the suddenly frantic Miriam, Miranda knelt before her and took her hands.  "I''m sorry.  I didn''t mean to make you worry even more.  What I mean is that, if it should become necessary, we can use that as a way of ''persuading'' your menfolk to do what we intend for them to do .


    "So... Clearly you want the best for you daughter.  Here in The City there are many worthwhile jobs open to women that may be done indoors, and do not require much walking.  But!  For her to qualify for such jobs, she must complete her education.


    "Which is where I come in.  Well, actually Dr. Kastner must meet your menfolk first.  After he has terrified, uh, I mean, convinced them to be examined (and treated as necessary), you and I shall tell them about the law concerning education.


    "When they realize how far it is from your home to the school, and think about how much work they would miss in transporting Danica to and from school every day, we will tell them our solution.  I''m certain that if we present it properly, they''ll jump at it.  Don''t you think?"


    Miriam was totally befuddled and asked, "Our solution?  What IS our solution?"


    "OOPS!  Sorry.  I guess I didn''t tell you yet."


    Kaho, who had just brought Danica into the room and was now behind everyone else, rolled her eyes and would have done the "Why me?" gesture if she weren''t afraid of being seen or dropping Danica.  Miranda never, ever forgot to tell people things they needed to know.  Sometime she was much too impressed with her own acting abilities.


    Dr. Kastner''s eyes narrowed somewhat, but then he grinned.  This was likely to be interesting.


    Ignoring both of them, Miranda explained, "It''s simple actually.  Since we now consider Danica a member of the family, and since the school is only a short distance away, wouldn''t it make sense for her to live with the family members who can best take care of her needs?  And, since there are children here who attend the same school, and who can assist her to and from school every day, wouldn''t the best solution be for her to stay with us until she can manage things on her own?


    "Besides, since her brothers are eight and 11 years older than she is, it''s about time that she learned what it was like to be around children near her own age.  She''ll be the eldest, unmarried child here.  As a woman is preparing for marriage, being in the role of eldest sister can help her to understand more about managing a household, don''t you think?"


    Hearing the phrase, "preparing for marriage" and seeing Miranda wink at her as she said it, Danica fought off the blush that was threatening to spread across her face and neck and leaned over toward her mother.


    "Don''t worry mother.  You''d probably end up working yourself to death were I to live with you, father, and my brothers.  I couldn''t abide you getting ill too.  I shall be content to live here with Aunt Miranda and her family.  I also promise you that I will strive to become a strong and faithful woman like you.  After all, you''ve set an example that you should be proud of."


    Tears began to flow again, and this time, even Dr. Kastner could be seen to surreptitiously blot the corners of his eyes.

 Vol 4 - Ch 8 Catastrophe

    Shortly afterward, Miranda escorted Dr. Kastner and Kaho to the door.  Just before opening the door, Dr. Kastner turned to Miranda.  "Mrs. Donetti, you are an evil woman."  He sighed heavily.  "I wish I''d met you 20 years ago.  I''m sure that having you around would have cut years off the time it took me to learn how to properly manipulate people.


    "Now, if you''ll excuse me, I must be going.  My daughter and my new grand-daughters are expecting me for dinner."


    Kaho followed him out the door, which, as it was closing, was intercepted by a hand, coming from the outside.  It was followed by Mimi who closed the door carefully, turned to Miranda and reported, "Everything is arranged with the school.  I''ve informed them of Miss Danica''s needs, and Mrs. Krait sees no significant problems with meeting them.  They will be ready for her to return to class on Monday."


    Bowing slightly she said, "Now, if you''ll excuse me, I''ll see about finishing up dinner preparations.  We should be ready by the time you, Mrs. Karongo, and Danica have finished your sunset prayers.  Danica''s father and brothers will be eating at a restaurant after they leave the mosque.  Before Miranda could respond, Mimi disappeared down the hall.


    Mimi smiled to herself.  Miranda loved her games so much that Mimi didn''t have the heart to tell her that, upon hearing Ailin (appearing as his true gender) explain the results of Dr. Kastner''s examination, and Miranda''s proposal, Danica''s father and brothers had fallen to their knees and had offered up their thanks to Allah for arranging for the care of the daughter and sister that they loved so much.


    Before he had left, Ailin had explained what Miranda was planning to do, and the men had all agreed to play along.  There had been many a time that Miriam had pretended to be surprised when they proposed something that she''d clearly already thought of.  It was only fair that they returned the favor now and then.


    Everything seemed to be going exactly as the adults had planned.  Unfortunately, they''d completely forgotten to consider the most important person involved.


    ----------------------


    A few hours later, after evening prayers, Danica raised a hand and stopped Paolo from picking her up.  "If you please ''cousin'', would you ask Stavros if he would be so kind as to assist me back to my room?"


    Paolo glanced at her with a question in his eyes.  After looking at her more closely, and noticing her struggling to control her face, he locked down his impulse to recoil in horror.  OH MY GOD!  How could they have missed it?  It literally took everything he''d learned, both while he was growing up, and in the seminary, about schooling his expression and body language, but he did manage to control himself.


    He pasted on a slightly puzzled expression and also a bit of question in his voice as he answered, "Oh, sure.  I''ll go find him."


    Once he found Stavros, he explained Danica''s request.  When Stavros asked why she wanted him, Paolo replied truthfully, "She didn''t say."  There was no way he could tell his brother what was really going on.


    Stavros shrugged his shoulders, put down the book he''d been reading, and headed downstairs.  Whatever the reason, it was a small task, and it wouldn''t take all that long.


    When he arrived, Danica smiled at him and raised her arms.  "Please."


    Stavros nodded, picked her up, and headed upstairs.


    When they arrived, he headed toward the bed, but she stopped him by asking, "Will you please sit in the armchair?"  Seeing his confusion, she smiled slightly and added, "Yes, with me on your lap.  I''ll explain after you sit."


    He''d already become somewhat accustomed to her unusual way of thinking, so he did as directed then looked at her with a "now what" expression.


    She nodded and began softly, "We lived at the edge of our town.  Beyond it was savanna. There were lions of course, but what we were most afraid of was hyenas. The grass there could grow well over a meter high, and they could hide in it without being seen, even by a careful observer.  By the time each of us was three years old, we had learned that listening for approaching danger was at least as important as watching for it."


    She paused and Stavros asked, "And this is important because..."


    "It''s important because I heard the conversation between Dr. Kastner, my mother, and your mother as Dr. Fukui was bringing me to the parlor.  I''m sure that they have no idea of how good my hearing is."


    She looked up at him, and her facade crumbled.  A veritable river of tears began to flow from her eyes as she stammered, "That Dr. Kastner said that...that...I probably won''t be able to walk...by myself...for at least several years.  Even then I may have to use canes."


    All the pain she''d hidden from everyone the past few months was now plain to see on her face, and she could only speak in a whisper, "I''m only 15 years old.  There was so much I wanted to do, but my dreams have just died along with my legs.  How could God do something like this to a child?  I''m not finished with my life; it''s only just started.  What am I going to do, Stavros?  What can I do with this crippled body?"


    With that, she grabbed his shirt with both hands, buried her face in his chest, and sobbed.  Even though she was shaking enough that the chair moved with her, she didn''t make a sound.


    Stavros couldn''t understand how someone could cry so hard and yet not make any noise.  Suddenly he realized.  Today surely wasn''t the first time she''d cried silently.  She''s spent three years enduring who knew what hardships without saying anything to anyone.


    He said tenderly, "No matter what, you''ll never have to suffer like this by yourself...ever again.  Whatever happens, I''ll be with you."


    Gently, he wrapped his arms around her and held her until her exhaustion caught up with her and she fell asleep.  He continued to hold her, his mind full of emotions he''d never before experienced, until he too dozed off.


    ----------------


    After watching Stavros carry Danica into her room, Paolo hurriedly gathered the adults in the family by the simple expedient of grabbing each of their arms once he found them and dragging them to Miranda''s office.  Finally he spotted Mimi, who was standing in the hallway with a puzzled look on her face.  She was oblivious to Paolo''s presence as she was concentrating on something that she''d just heard/felt.  Or at least she thought she had.  It was like someone had been gloating about something and radiating the emotion throughout the house, but, right when she started to concentrate on it, it disappeared as if it had suddenly been cut off somehow.


    Just as Paolo raised his hand, she turned toward him.  Seeing her frowning, his desire to take her by the arm vanished and, instead, he said, "Please come with me.  Something important needs to be discussed."


    Once they entered the office, he asked his mother to put up a wall of silence around them.


    She was irritated at how her son had treated her, but she''d managed to keep from biting his head off while he pulled her down the hall because she''d seen the pain he was trying to control.  Obviously something truly serious was happening.


    Rather than beating around the bush, Paolo said, "We''ve all forgotten something extremely important."


    Turning to Miranda he asked, "Mother, you''re a very busy, active woman.  You run errands all over The City.  How would you feel if, suddenly, you were unable to walk and didn''t know when, or if, you''d be able to again?"


    "Why are you ask....  Oh no!"  Miranda buried her face in her hands.  From behind them a muffled, "How?" snuck out.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "As to how she found out, I have no idea.  I only realized it myself when she asked me to have Stavros carry her to her room after prayers tonight.  I came to fetch all of you after I saw Stavros push the door shut with his foot after he carried her inside.  What''s going on in there right now, I have no idea."


    After he said that, all the others present turned and looked at Mimi, who asked, "What?  Am I supposed to somehow, magically know what they''re doing?"


    Seeing four exasperated faces focused on her, she relented sooner than she''d planned, threw up her hands and said, "All right.  All right.  I give. I''ll tell you.


    "Last I checked, they were in that big armchair by the bed.  Danica was crying enough tears to fill a small stream, and Stavros was holding her. It won''t be safe for her to be alone tonight, not if her mind is to remain whole.  Therefore I shall make sure that they''re properly chaperoned, just in case it somehow leaks out that he spent the night in her room.


    "Should anyone ask, I shall let them know that I spent the night in her room in order to provide comfort after her ordeal and that Stavros assisted me.  What I shall not do is explain that it is you four for whom I will have provided comfort."


    Glaring at them ferociously she added, "You all really should have more faith in Stavros."


    Seeing multiple embarrassed and guilty expressions, she nodded, then flowed out the door.


    ---------------


    The first thought that flitted across her half-awake mind was that she was surprisingly warm.  During their travels, she had rarely been warm at night, and, even in her bed at the Donetti home, she usually felt a bit of a chill by the time she needed to get up.  That being the case, why did she feel so good this morning?


    With her eyes still closed, she stretched and...huh?  Why was she sitting instead of lying down?  Her eyes popped open, and she saw someone''s chest filling her entire field of vision.  She began to struggle to get up, but she was held down by the hands of the person she was lying on.  One was on her right buttock and the other was high up on the inside of her left thigh.


    As she was struggling with deciding whether to scream, throw herself off of whomever she was on top of, or, strangely, closing her eyes and cuddling up to the warmth, she suddenly felt herself being lifted in the air.  Turning her head to the right, she saw Mimi, who was looking at her with a smile that was both fond and sensual.


    "While I can understand your feelings Miss Danica, acting on them is still a few years premature.  After all, in August Stavros will still only be 13.  Anything more than holding hands is going to have to wait."


    Danica was still feeling rather muzzy, and her eyes were bouncing back and forth from Stavros to Mimi.  Oh.  She''s been sleeping on Stavros.  OK.... No.  What?  How?


    Mimi sighed.  It was apparent that Danica wasn''t a morning person.  She''d best move along or she''d be standing here far too long.  She had other duties after all.


    "Miss Danica. I shall assist you to the bathroom.  After that, I shall help you with your morning exercises and massage.  Consuela and Heidi will be in attendance, and I shall instruct them in how to do them.  After that, they will help you get dressed.


    "As for Stavros..."


    Mimi blinked him onto his bed then strode out of the room with an astonished Danica in her arms.  He''d likely wake up within the next few minutes.  The door, seemingly by itself, closed behind them as they proceeded out of the room and then down the hall.


    ------------------


    At breakfast Danica spent the entire meal with her head bowed, staring at her plate.  The others, who were watching her out of the corner of their eyes, were fascinated, and highly amused, by the faint blush that repeatedly appeared, and then disappeared from her cheeks.  Likewise, they watched Stavros, who was also mostly staring at his plate.  However, in his case, his expression was one of puzzlement as he struggled to piece together what had happened last night and also to figure out why he''d awakened that morning on top of his still made-up bed.


    Heidi and Consuela noticed that the adults were carefully not noticing what Danica and Stavros were doing, so they contrived to not notice either.  They weren''t nearly as successful, but they were still young and lacking in practice.  Considering their age, and that they had been thrown into the situation without warning, Miranda nodded to herself and gave them a passing grade.


    Once they''d all finished eating, Miranda cleared her throat to get everyone''s attention.  "Danica will be returning to school on Monday.  As all of you have plans for today, I shan''t interrupt them.  However, after dinner we will all gather in the family parlor and draw up a plan that will enable us to deal with the situation in the most efficient way.  You are all invited to make suggestions at that time.


    "We will finalize our plan tomorrow afternoon, and then implement it upon awakening Monday morning.  At the end of the week we shall tweak it as needed.  I shall entertain questions only during the meetings."  After that, she stood and strode out of the room.  Even though it was a Saturday, she still had a number of things that wouldn''t wait, and she wanted to get them out of the way as quickly as possible.


    The others smiled, shrugged, and then, without speaking, somehow arranged to leave Danica and Stavros alone.  The staff didn''t seem to be moving any faster than normal, but they cleared the table in record time and disappeared into the kitchen.


    Danica and Stavros glanced at each other, several times, after which they resumed staring at the table.  Finally Stav cleared his throat.  "Uh...I...I suppose we should leave too.  Where do you need to go?"


    "Oh, yes.  I suppose you''re right.  If you would, please take me to your mother''s office.  I promised to help her sort out some of her books that are written in Arabic."


    "Right.  OK.  Let''s, go."


    Stavros walked around to her side of the table, picked her up, then kneed the chair back under the table.  To his surprise, rather than sitting stiffly upright as she usually did when someone was carrying her, she leaned her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his chest.


    Looking up at him, she said, "The way I sat before made everyone have to lean backwards some to keep their balance.  It should be easier to carry me this way, right?"


    "Uh, yeah.  Sure.  I guess so."


    Neither of them spoke while on the way upstairs.  She was enjoying the sensation of cuddling someone who wasn''t her mother.  He, on the other hand, was confused as much as anything.  The other times he''d held her has been in times of emotional crisis, and he''d been anything but calm.  This time though, there was nothing distracting him -- no sound, no sensation...other than that of her body against his, and he had no idea of what to do.


    First, he took several slow, deep breaths as he tried to turn his brain on so he could analyze the situation.  As he did so, he happened to glance down and saw Danica''s face.  Her eyes were closed and she had a gentle smile on her face.  That was the end of his coherent thought.  By the time they reached Miranda''s office, he''d come to the realization that you didn''t always need to understand things.  Sometimes letting your emotions take over wasn''t such a bad thing.


    After he''d settled Danica on a chair at the desk where she would be working, and had left the room, his only thoughts were of how good it had felt to have her in his arms and how much he already missed her.  As he was wandering aimlessly down the hall, he saw Mimi approaching at her usual brisk pace.  Rather than stepping aside as everyone usually did so as not to be run over, he stepped out in front of her.


    She stopped in surprise, with a reprimand ready on her lips for him interfering with her duties.  It died before it was spoken as Stavros wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her chest.  "What am I going to do Mimi?  What CAN I do?  I''m only 12 years old.  I don''t know anything about what to do with a girl who''s not part of the family.  Up until I met her, I never thought of girls as anything other than classmates or nuisances.  I feel like someone just tossed me into the river during a flood!"


    Rasing his tear-streaked face, he asked, "What should I do Mimi?  Please, tell me what to do!"


    She pulled his head back against her chest and stroked his hair.  "The most important thing is for you to realize is that there''s more than enough time for things to sort themselves out.  You don''t have to do anything in particular.  She''s going to be living with us for at least six months.  All you need to do is take things a day at a time.


    "Look at Paolo.  He and Sara never went on a single date before they got engaged, and they were married within a few weeks.  Don''t you think that things are working out pretty well for them?"


    Lifting his head, Stavros looked up at her.  "Well, yeah, but they''d known each other for years beforehand.  Danica and I have just met."


    Tapping his nose gently with the tip of her index finger, Mimi chuckled.  "It''s like you said. You''re only 12.  By the time you two need to decide if you''re really serious about having a relationship, you''ll have known each other for years too.  It''s time to stop the ''woe is me'' act and get back to your daily life.  Right now, making sure you''ve finished your homework is more important than even thinking about sorting out your relationship.  So...."


    She turned him around and whacked him on the butt.  "Get yourself back to your room and study."


    As he slowly walked away her words followed him down the hall, "I''ll be by later to check on how well you''ve done."


    Hearing that, he ran down the hall at full speed.  The last thing in the world he wanted right now was Mimi pointing out mistakes in his homework.  Just thinking about what she''d say if she found any had him shaking.


    She nodded.  Good.  Distraction accomplished.  She thought for a moment and decided to talk to Sara about what just happened.  Someone else in the family needed to know how things were progressing.  She wasn''t a priest, but, like them, she would never betray a confidence, and Danica would need an adult woman to talk to, not only the other girls.  If she told Miranda rather than Sara, her deranged sense of humor would likely end up with her causing  problems that might take months to sort out.


    As she walked briskly down the hall, she pretended that she hadn''t felt, once again, an ominous, gloating presence when Stavros was crying.  For an instant, she''d thought that it might, perhaps, be Blue, but she immediately dismissed the thought.  That one never, ever, took pleasure in someone''s suffering.  But then, who, or what....

 Vol 4 - Ch 9 R & R

    As they were finishing lunch on Sunday, Miranda lightly clapped her hands to get everyone''s attention. "The past nine days have been about as calm as you''d expect from a hailstorm happening at the same time as a tornado.  Even though we have everything sorted out for when Danica goes back to school tomorrow, there''s no way it won''t be stressful for everyone, not just her.  So... I decided that everyone was due for something pleasant and relaxing.  That being the case..."


    Mimi poked her head in from the hallway door and announced, "Everything is in readiness Madame."


    "Thank you Mimi."  Miranda stood and gestured toward the door.  "Well then, shall we all go?"


    Nobody moved.  "Go where?" asked Robert.


    "Oh, that.  To the family parlor of course.  Everyone, if you please."   She was smiling, but the tone of voice she used was the one that everyone had long ago learned meant that she was not making a request but giving an order.


    By now, not even Danica expected an explanation, so off they went, with Danica walking between Stavros and Consuela.  They each had an arm around her waist, and her arms were around their shoulders. As her balance was still awful, and her strength not much better, they were carrying about 80% of her weight.


    When they arrived, they found Akane Fukui and her daughter Rebecca already there.  After the usual greetings, all took a seat.  As there were more than the usual number of people present, it somehow worked out that Stavros, Danica, and Consuela shared a love seat meant for two, with Danica in the middle.


    Akane wondered why Consuela had arranged to sit so there was about 15 cm of space to her right, thus crowding the other two children together.  Seeing barely concealed smiles on the faces of the other adults in the room, she decided to withhold her question until she could get Miranda alone.  Whatever was going on promised to be interesting.


    As Akane was thinking, Miranda stood and gestured for Rebecca to also stand.  "Rebecca here has granted us some of her time today.  What with school and her music lessons, I expect that she rarely has time for herself any more.  That being the case, I must express my gratitude."


    She bowed slightly and then sat down, while continuing to look attentively at Rebecca who immediately bowed back.


    "Ah, yes.  Uh...  Thank you Mrs. Donetti.  It''s no problem at all.  To be truthful you''re actually helping me.  One of my recent assignments was to perform in front of a small audience of people who were not also students, so when Mother told me of your request, well, I was thrilled."


    Danica looked at Stavros, and then Consuela.  Seeing puzzlement she looked at everyone else and found that all of them other than Miranda and Mimi also had no idea of what was going on.


    All their questions were soon answered when Rebecca pulled a case out from behind a chair and removed a violin.  Seeing it resulted in smiles on everyone''s faces, except for Danica''s.  She''d never seen one before.


    Her confusion cleared as Rebecca began her performance.  From that point on there was silence punctuated only by the sounds of someone occasionally shifting position.


    When Rebecca finished, about 20 minutes later, Stavros barely was able to stop Danica from tumbling off the love seat.  She''d gradually been leaning further and further forward and had finally lost her balance.  The others hadn''t noticed as they too had been enraptured by Rebecca''s playing.


    Her near fall caught the attention of everyone in the room, but, while they were looking at her, Danica''s attention was full on Rebecca and she didn''t notice.  "Uh. Miss Rebecca?  I''m sorry, but I haven''t heard your last name yet.  I''m Danica Karongo.  If you would, please, tell me, can that be played in a sitting position?"


    "Certainly.  Most of the time, it is.  While it''s customary to stand while giving a solo performance, it''s only that, customary.  There is no requirement to do so."


    Seeing Miranda vacate her chair and gesture toward it, Rebecca sat and played a short piece, after which she looked at Danica and smiled.


    Danica''s eyes were glowing.  "How wonderful.  While you were playing, I became certain that there are indeed angels on the earth, and that the sound made by your instrument must be very like their songs.  Please tell me, what is your instrument called?"


    "Oh.  It''s called a ''violin''.  I''m told that similar instruments have been around for several hundred years, but its current form is due to a remarkable craftsman in Cremona by the name of Andrea Amati.  I wish I could personally let him know how much I appreciate his work, but I did send him a letter thanking him."


    While Becca was speaking, Danica glanced around the room and saw that everyone was looking at her.  As soon as Becca finished, Danica bowed, and stammered, "Everyone, I''m so, so sorry that I spoke out of turn.  Please accept my most abject apologies for not allowing my elders to speak first."


    Sara smiled warmly and replied, "Think nothing of it.  Besides, I think that what you said pretty much expressed what all of us would like to say, yes?"


    As she looked around the room, her question was answered by nods from everyone.  "So you see Danica, this time, you spoke for all of us, though you are right that, in other circumstances, you should restrain yourself, especially should you be in public."


    Bowing her compliance, Danica then hid her embarrassment by bringing her hands to her face.


    Akane crossed the room and patted Danica on the head.  "Don''t fret so much child.  I''ve been telling Becca for over a year that she''s become remarkably good, but she never truly believed me.  I can''t blame her though.  Parents frequently have too high an opinion of their children''s talents."


    Turning to Rebecca she added, "Though in this case it looks like I was spot on, wouldn''t you say?"


    Seeing her daughter blushing with pleasure, Akane turned back to Danica.  "I''m Akane Fukui.  Sara''s sisters, whom I understand you met briefly, are married to my son Jason.  Kaho is my daughter."


    Turning to face the room in general, she said, "Well, it''s time for us to go.  Becca needs to get some rest.  After dinner, she''ll be playing for the family for the first time."


    "WHAT?!"


    "I told everyone that if you did well here today, you''d play for them later." She mock glared at Rebecca. "You aren''t going to tell me that you''ll play for friends but not for your family, are you?"


    "No, no, no, NO!  NO, I''d never do something like that Mother.  Of course I''ll play for them tonight.  Let''s be on our way, yes..."  She hurriedly, but carefully, put her violin in its case and headed for the door.


    "Well, see you all later.  Toodles!"  With that, Akane also left, followed by Mimi.  It wouldn''t do for her to let herself out.


    As they were leaving, Danica said, to no one in particular, possibly only to herself, as it was nearly a whisper, "At home in Soba, there were many who played the Rebab, but it usually has only two or three strings and doesn''t have nearly the range of Miss Rebecca''s violin.  Still, hearing the rebab was a most pleasant experience.  I dearly wish I''d been able to study it, but only men play."


    No one responded, so perhaps nobody had heard her.


    ----------------


    Ptica paused the replay and loudly pounded a paperweight on her desk upon hearing mutterings, in multiple languages, of words to the equivalent of "That poor girl."


    .  "Oh, please!  If anyone truly believes that the others didn''t hear her, I''m sure that Flower Arranging II still has openings.  Now shut up and listen."


    -----------------


    After the children had gone to bed that evening the adults met in Miranda''s office.  Paolo started the conversation, "I''m pretty sure she wasn''t hinting.  She wasn''t, was she?"


    "After teaching her for the past week and change, I call tell you this for sure.  She''s not the subtle type.  If she has something to say, she''ll say it.  If not, she keeps her mouth shut."


    Sara looked at Miranda and grinned. "That''s why you want to eventually recruit her for your informant team, right?"


    Miranda said nothing, but grinned in return.


    It was Robert who made the decision easy for everyone.  "This falls in my area of expertise, so I''ll deal with it.  Decent quality, used violins are readily available at tolerable prices.  One of our customers at First Merchant''s owns an instrument store, and it''s fairly close by.  I''ll meander over after work some time this week, check out the instruments, and inquire about a good, patient teacher.  The last thing that poor girl needs now is more stress from an instructor who''s a martinet.  I''ll also make sure that the teacher is female.  Danica should be more comfortable that way, and it will reinforce the idea that you don''t have to be male to be good."This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    There was nodding all around, then everyone went off to finish whatever tasks they''d planned on previously.  Fortunately, even Miranda had caught up with her work, temporarily, and was able to get to bed at a reasonable hour.


    ------------------------


    About the same time at the Karongo home:


    "They''re WHAT?!!"  Danica''s father Faizan fell back into the chair behind him after nearly having fainted upon hearing the news.


    Aseel, his older brother, nodded firmly to confirm his previous statement.  "There is no doubt.  Robert Donetti is the senior partner of the most prominent bank in The City, and it is also one of the most well known in Italy.  They''re also filthy rich.  Our Danica''s misfortune may turn into a blessing for all of us."


    Miriam, who still had her hands on her cheeks from reacting to the news, asked, "What in the world are you talking about?"


    Aseel ticked things off on his fingers, "First, we owe them a great debt of gratitude for all the care they''ve provided, not just for Danica, but also for arranging for Dr. Kastner to see my brother and nephews.  Normally nobody sees him without waiting a month or more.  He''s the most respected doctor in The City."


    Miriam''s hands fell in her lap, and she looked as if she might faint.


    "Secondly, it is not right that such a debt remain unpaid.  Were we to do nothing, there would be much criticism in our community regarding our unseemly conduct.


    "Third, we have the chance to gain a great deal when we repay that debt."


    Faizan had regained his senses by then.  "What in the world are you talking about?"


    "Little brother, we need to show the Donetti family how much we value both Danica and their assistance.  The last thing in the entire world that they need is money.  I suspect that they could buy a third of The City were they so inclined.  Giving them payment for their care of my niece could even be considered an insult.


    "So what do we do?"  He immediately answered his own question, "We give them something that they will value yet would never be able to buy."


    After so saying he stood up straight, raised his right hand, and with a little twist of his wrist, pointed his index finger at the ceiling.


    "Big brother, you look silly like that."


    Aseel grinned down at his brother.  "Maybe so, but it felt so good to do it!"


    After they''d all laughed, Faizan got down to business.  "So, what are you plotting?"


    "Who me?  Plotting?"


    Seeing Faizan''s stern look, he laughed once, then continued, "Well, of course I am, but this time in a good way.  I don''t get into nearly as much mischief now as I did when we were boys."


    Seeing Zaynab''s skeptical look, he cleared his throat and hurried on,  "There are more than 20 silversmith families in The City.  Of those, about 12 produce work for the lower and middle classes.  Of the remaining eight, there are three that stand out from the rest."


    He gave Faizan a serious look.  "I and my sons produce work that is, almost, as good as theirs.  However, YOU are better than any of them."


    Faizan looked shocked, while Miriam''s expression could only be described as proud.


    "So, what we do for the Donetti''s is this.  You are to give your best work to them.  And, yes, I do mean that teapot you just finished.  It is exquisite.  As I said before, we must give them something unique, and there is nowhere in the entire city where they could buy its equal, and probably nowhere in Italy where a similar design exists.


    "It will be ample repayment of our debt.  If they have any taste at all, they will treasure it, and, God forgive me for being greedy, when their friends see it and hear who made it, our business is sure to prosper even more than it does now."


    Nodding at the other''s expressions of comprehension, he added, "By the time word has spread, and I expect it will take two or three months before the orders are more than you and your sons can handle by yourselves, the rest of us will have improved our skills substantially."


    Looking askance at Aseel, Faizan asked, "And what miracle is going to allow that to happen so quickly?"


    "How could it not?  The best teacher in the world will be instructing us.  Right Master Faizan?"


    -----------------


    On Thursday afternoon, Miriam arrived with both Faizan and their imam.  As she did the first time, Miranda answered the door.  Miriam had sent a letter asking permission for the others to accompany her, so Miranda and family were prepared.  The guests were escorted to the family parlor, tea was served, and the usual small talk was used to allow everyone to get comfortable.  Miranda did her very best not to look at the box Faizan had set on the floor by his feet.


    Most of her attention was on the imam, who was the most important person in the room.  She explained what had been done to provide adequate religious structure for Danica, after which he inspected the prayer room, discussed the dietary practices of the family, and was then escorted to the conservatory where Danica was waiting for him.  They were seated in an alcove that afforded them privacy while they spoke, but Mimi was visible by the door, thus providing an appropriate chaperone.


    After listening to his instructions and answering questions for a time, Danica decided that she liked him.  He was definitely a somewhat stern man, but there was an occasional twinkle in his eye as well.  When he seemed to be finished with what he''d intended to say, Danica asked, "Excuse me please, but I have a questions that is weighing upon me."


    "Oh, so.  And, pray tell, what might that be Miss Karongo?"


    She the proceeded to explain how Paolo usually accompanied her and his mother for evening prayer, and then added on what he''d said about why he joined them.  Once she''d finished, the imam leaned back in his chair and stared at, or perhaps through, the glass at the top of the conservatory.


    After several minutes, he returned his attention to Danica, who was by then exceedingly nervous.  She was afraid that she might be in a great deal of trouble for considering the ideas of a Christian, and a priest at that.


    The imam''s gaze was most solemn, but then it appeared that he couldn''t hold it in any longer and began to snicker, then finally to laugh out loud.  Of all the scenarios Danica had considered, this was far from being one of them.


    Once he''d managed to control his laughter and had blotted his eyes, he explained, "I think that the leaders of almost every religion here in The City have heard of young Paolo Donetti.  Many consider him to be a bad influence.  After all, he insists on preaching tolerance of those of different religions.  It''s not just the Catholics who are irritated with him either.


    "My personal suspicion is that, if it were not that BOTH archbishops in The CIty have expressed their full confidence in him, in public, some of the more hidebound religious leaders, and not just Christians, might have called for him to be defrocked.  After all, teaching that those whose beliefs are different from yours are still human beings who deserve love and respect is definitely something only a radical would do...  Or so they say."


    He gently took Danica''s hands in his and gazed into her eyes as he added, "Every day I pray that this world will someday be entirely filled by people like him.  So...  To answer your question.  No, I see absolutely no problem with what he has suggested to you.


    "However, should you continue to discuss religious concepts with him, please also discuss what he has said with me afterwards.  I expect that I''ll drop by every few weeks to have a chat with you about your concerns and questions.  At worst, I will instruct you as to how the Prophet''s teachings differ from Paolo''s Christian ideas and explain why we believe as we do.  At best, well, maybe I''ll learn something as well."


    So saying, he stood, brushed off his trousers, and said his goodbyes.


    Miranda came and escorted him to the door.  Even Danica couldn''t hear the details of a conversation that far away, especially as it was around the corner from where she was sitting.  However, she could tell that both were relaxed and seemed comfortable as they chatted.


    ------------


    While Danica and the imam were having their discussion, Miranda had been conversing with Danica''s parents. She''d opened the conversation by expressing her delight at having come to know Danica and how happy she was that Danica was helping her in her library, which she admitted had still been mostly disorganized in spite of the cleaning she''d undertaken two years earlier.


    Danica''s parents expressed their gratitude for all the help the Donettis were giving their family, finally saying that such aid was priceless and could never be measured.


    It was then that Faizan picked up the box he brought with him.  "Your actions, which, as you told my wife at your first meeting, are clearly based on the teachings of the Prophet, are still far beyond what most would do.  Danica means the world to us.  We have discussed the situation, and our options, and have decided that, well, we, uh..."


    Miriam looked at him with a frustrated expression, which softened to a gentle smile.  Turning to Miranda, she said, "My husband isn''t much of a talker.  Some days he hardly talks at all."


    After shrugging her shoulders, she added, "It took him three days to come up with what you just heard.  Actually I''m rather proud of the effort he put into it."


    By then he was staring at his shoes and refused to look up.


    "That being said, we know how much work you''ve put in in taking care of her.  We also know that the last thing you need from us is money, so we decided that the best thing for us to do was to trade work for work, so to speak."


    She chuckled, "I''m not much better with words than he is, to tell the truth.  So, anyway, here.  We want you to have this.  Faizan worked on this off and on for a good part of our trip."


    So saying, she handed the box to Miranda with a self-satisfied grin.  She hadn''t stuttered even once.


    Manda received the box with both hands, set it on her lap, slowly lifted the lid, then froze.  Finally, she moved, though it was just her eyes rapidly shifting back and forth from the object in the box, to Faizan, then back again.


    Eventually she set the lid beside her on the settee and looked at Miriam.  "May I pick it up?"


    "Of course you can you silly goose.  It''s yours.  You can do whatever you want with it."  Miriam winced when she''d finished speaking.  She hoped that Miranda hadn''t been offended.


    Slowly, and extremely carefully, Miranda slid her hands into the box and lifted out what was inside.  What was revealed was a silver teapot, but one unlike any she''d ever seen before.


    The handle looked to be of leadwood.  It was carved as the figure of a leaping leopard, with its hind legs pushing off from the base of the pot, and its front legs touching the upper part.  Its head was slightly raised, and its mouth was open, as if it were snarling.  On each side of the pot there were engravings of several running antelope, seemingly fleeing the leopard.


    Miranda looked it over, first from one side, then the other, and, finally the bottom and inside.  By then both Miriam and Faizan were watching with trepidation.  Had she seen some sort of flaw in the workmanship?  Otherwise, why would she have spent so long examining it?


    At last, Miranda gently put it back in the box and replaced the lid.  She looked up at the others, smiled, and said softly, "Never, in my entire life, have I received such a marvelous gift.  I shall remember this moment for the rest of my life."


    Faizan and Miriam let out the breath they''d beejn holding.  There truly wasn''t anything to say, so they nodded and smiled back.

 Vol 4 - Ch 10 Lessons

    The following Saturday, Akane and Blair ran into each other on the way to the Donetti home, and each asked the other if she knew why Miranda had suddenly invited them over for tea.  Unfortunately, neither had the slightest idea.


    Miranda said nothing as they settled themselves in the parlor, but both were aware that Manda was exceedingly pleased with herself about something.   Other than saying hello, nothing else was spoken.  Both of them were waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop.  Miranda was leaning back in her favorite armchair, seemingly completely relaxed.  That alone set the others on edge.  Manda never acted that way unless she was about to dump something on them.


    They had no idea what, but her sense of humor was most accurately described as "twisted".


    Both tensed up, prepared to leap out of their chairs and escape should it become necessary.  Seeing that Miranda''s smile widened as they did so, they became even more alarmed.  When Mimi pushed open the door and exited the kitchen, both of them nearly bolted out of the room before they realized who it was.  Mimi shook her head, both because she was irritated with her employer, and because, once again, she felt like someone was cackling with evil laughter somewhere far enough away that she could barely hear it.


    Briefly, Mimi glared at Miranda, then smoothed out her expression.  It was not appropriate to look at your employer in such a disrespectful manner, no matter how much they deserved it.


    When the only thing that happened was Mimi setting down the tray she was carrying, Blair and Akane began to relax.  Perhaps they''d been worried over nothing.  After Mimi had left the room without anything horrible happening, they began to relax.  That was when they noticed the teapot.


    Blair then glared at Miranda.  "Your sense of humor gets worse every year.  By the time you''re 50, I doubt that I shall be able to walk in your front door safely unless I''m wearing armor and carrying a shield."


    Manda waved her hand in a dismissive gesture.  "What''s wrong with you?  I haven''t done anything to warrant such an accusation.  Right Akane?"


    Having now recovered enough to pour herself some tea and take an appreciative whiff of its fragrance, Akane rolled her eyes at Miranda and said exactly nothing.


    Miranda continued to stare at her, and, finally, Akane relented.  She carefully picked up the teapot and, keeping it level so as not to spill the tea, she examined it from all sides.


    Finally, with a sigh, she gently put it back down.  "This is a work of fine art as much as it is a teapot.  It is without a doubt the most exquisite sculpture I''ve ever seen.  Where in the world did you obtain it?"


    "If you''ll recall, Danica''s father, brothers, and her uncle''s family are all silversmiths."


    "No Manda, I don''t recall. You never mentioned it.  Did you know anything about this Blair?"


    Blair feigned concern and anxiety.  "As a certain personage well knows, she hasn''t told me either.  Maybe she really is getting senile and is forgetting things.  Perhaps we should have Dr. Kastner examine her?"


    "Oh, you!  You''re no fun at all," Miranda huffed.  "All right.  No more silliness.  Danica''s father made it.  He gave it to me three days ago, and  I showed it to Dot yesterday.  I heard that she actually went to their shop in person and placed an order the same afternoon."


    Blair and Akane shot to their feet.  "Now I see why you had us come so early today.  We''ll still have time to get there before they close for the day."  Blair sighed with irritation and, at the same time, smiled her gratitude.


    Akane hurried to gather her things and headed for the door after waving approximately in Miranda''s direction.  Seeing her leave, Blair scurried after.


    Mimi appeared and said, "Madame, I shall escort them to the shop...if you have no objections?"


    "No Mimi, not all, considering that neither of them has the slightest idea where it is.  Return when convenient."


    "Yes Madame, I shall."


    Once she heard the front door close, Miranda doubled over laughing.


    -----------------


    On Monday after dinner, Robert presented the violin he''d selected to Danica.  Her reaction was far outside anyone''s prediction.  After opening the case, and inspecting the instrument, she muttered. "So this is what a violin feels like.  It is most interesting.


    "I shall endeavor to merit your trust in me."  Her voice was monotone, but, when she turned to replace the violin in the case, tears could be seen in the corners of her eyes.


    -----------


    Lessons began with twice a week and were planned to be reduced to weekly after a month.  Surprisingly, the teacher they had employed, Marcela Piedmont, strenuously objected to that schedule at the meeting she had requested with Robert and Miranda at the end of the first three weeks.  "Yes, I know what we agreed to, and, ''yes'' again, it is how private instructions are normally done.  That being said, I will regret it for the rest of my life if I don''t give that child everything I can.  Making her wait a week between lessons will be like burning a book.  What will be lost is something irreplaceable...precious time that could have been spent polishing her talent.  I MUST see her three times a week, and I WILL see her, even if you still only pay me for one of those days."  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    By the time she had finished, she was actually panting from having said it all with a single breath.


    Miranda smoothed her skirt before asking, "Mrs. Piedmont, do I understand correctly that Rebecca Fukui is also one of your students?"


    "Huh?  Oh, ah, yes, indeed.  She''s coming along well.  Quite well indeed as a matter of fact."  She continued in a puzzled tone, "Is your question relevant to our current discussion?"


    `    "Indeed, it is.  I actually have one more question.  If you do come to teach Danica three times a week, how long will it be before she will be well enough trained to perform a duet with Miss Fukui without embarrassing herself?"


    Marcela was momentarily taken aback, and was having some difficulty processing the change of direction in their conversation.  However, after thinking for a while she answered, "I see.  Yes, of course.  Rebecca has been on an accelerated schedule herself.  I teach her twice a week."


    She sat up straight in her chair and squared her shoulders, "Danica will be far enough along that she won''t be noticeably overpowered by Rebecca when they play together in something between nine months and a year," she answered firmly.


    Miranda smiled then propped her chin on her palm. "I presume that if things go as you expect, they will be able to continue their lessons together from that point on?"


    Cocking her head to the side, Marcela''s eyes lost focus for a while.  "Hmmm.  Yes.  That should indeed be the case.  With Becca finally having another student of nearly equal skill as a friendly rival, she''ll progress much more quickly too...  Yes indeed.


    "That''s a marvelous plan Mrs. Donetti," exclaimed Marcela.  "You have my gratitude. I''d not thought nearly that far ahead!"


    "While we''re speaking of it, since Danica''s mobility is not as good as we''d like, and may not be for some time to come, when they''re ready for joint lessons, would it work if you held their lessons in our conservatory?" queried Robert. "There is substantially more room there than in the room you''re currently using, and you wouldn''t be disturbed by, nor disturbing anyone else in the household...or the neighbors."


    "It sounds good, but, if you don''t mind, may I check the acoustics there now?  That way, if there''s a problem, we''ll have ample time to formulate an alternative plan."


    "Indeed...  A good suggestion."  So saying, Robert stood and held his hand out to Miranda.  Marcela stooped to pick up her violin.


    Once they arrived Miranda and Robert took seats and waited for Marcela to perform her test.


    Once she''d finished playing, Marcela nodded in satisfaction.  "Yes indeed.  I''d worried about all the plants causing problems with the sound, but everything is fine.  In fact, the acoustics here are better than in most venues in The City, and the humidity is not enough to adversely affect the violins."


    Robert nodded.  "In that case, please proceed with the thrice weekly lessons.  I''m looking forward to seeing how Danica progresses."


    Marcela smiled her thanks, put her violin away, and prepared to leave.  Just as she turned to follow Mimi to the door, she suddenly spun around and bowed.  Her cheeks were flushed and her voice squeaked, "I know it''s presumptuous of me, but I''d like to make a personal request...no a plea.  Please allow me to practice here before I have solo performances.  I''m absolutely convinced that if I do, I myself will do a better job at my concerts.  If you would consent to my selfish request, I''ll gladly reduce my fees and only charge for two lessons a week!"


    Miranda was shocked at her request, but, before she could formulate a response, Robert replied, "You are too kind.  The answer to your proposal is both ''yes'' and ''no''.  We will be more than pleased to allow you to practice here, at ANY time you wish, not just before a concert.  However, we will not consent to you reducing your fee...IF you allow us to leave the door to the house open when you practice.  If it is before or after one of Danica''s lessons, you won''t need to give us any kind of special notification.  If it is at another time, please let our head maid Mimi know when you will arrive."


    He smiled broadly.  "Are we agreed?"


    After bowing, deeply, several times, Marcela responded, "Yes.  Yes indeed.  That is decidedly acceptable.  Thank you for your consideration."


    "No, thank you.  Without teachers of your caliber and skill, the next generation will flounder in ignorance."


    "Oh my!"  Marcela''s face was flaming.  Clutching her violin to her chest with both arms, she bowed again, and, this time, followed Mimi to the door.


    Once the door was closed, Miranda spun toward Robert with an expression that was somewhere between irritated and angry.  "What in the world were you thinking of!?  Letting a stranger into the house at any hour of the day, just so she can practice playing her violin.  How could you do something like that?"


    "Tell me dear," Robert replied placidly, "even though you never attend, given your connections, you ought to know what front row seats at The CIty Symphony Orchestra''s performances cost."


    "It''s not like I don''t like good music you know.  I just don''t have time to attend.  You know that as well as I do."


    "Yes dear, I know.  Now, answer my question if you will."


    "All right.  Depending on whether there''s a special soloist, they run anywhere from 20 to 40 ducats."  Miranda frowned at him.  "So what''s your point?"


    "Marcela Piedmont is the first chair violinist for the orchestra.  She''s also famous throughout Italy.  In fact, travelers have been known to come from as far away as England just to listen to her.  Were it not that her twin is married to a local man, and were she not so dedicated to teaching, she''d probably be permanently employed in one of the royal courts."


    Miranda''s chin dropped.  "You don''t mean to tell me..."


    "Actually, yes I do.  The woman who is one of the finest violinists in all of Europe will be giving our family free concerts when she ''practices''.


    "In fact, when she''s here, it might be wise to offer her the best tea you have in your private stash, along with whatever her favorite snacks are each time she comes," suggested Robert slyly.


    "I''m sure that, by the time she has her first ''practice'', you''ll have found out what her favorite snack is, right?"


    Although she had begun snickering almost uncontrollably, Miranda managed to make her speech understandable, "You, my dear, are quite the schemer.


    "If it weren''t that the banks take up so much of your time I might, given a year or two, be able to turn you into at least a tolerable agent," she added dryly.


    Then they laughed, put their arms around each other''s waists, and headed inside.

 Vol 4 - Ch 11 Working Things Out

    Time passed, and, as Danica caught up at school, there was gradually a change in the family''s after-school activities.  Danica had stopped studying with Consuela and Heidi and was instead spending all of her study time with Stavros.  It wasn''t so much that they were studying together as it was that they were spending the time they studied near each other.  They hadn''t planned it that way, but, rather, it had gradually evolved to that point.  Even when she was practicing violin, Stavros could always be found reading nearby.  They didn''t spend all of their free time together though; It was still Paolo who took her to evening prayer, and she relished the time each day she spent talking to ''Suela and Heidi, and occasionally Sara, which took a load off the minds of the adults.


    The adults had discussed the situation several times, even wondering if the two of them had somehow developed something like Separation Sickness.  Fortunately, their worries dissolved when they realized that Danica was quite capable of being away from Stavros for hours at a time and at a substantial distance, and vice versa, without either suffering any ill effects.  The latter had been proven when Stavros had run a message for Miranda to an agent at the army garrison at the far end of the valley.  Eventually it was concluded that it was nothing more than that they were more comfortable when they were together.


    Sara finally summed it up to everyone''s satisfaction. "Actually they''re acting like a couple who''ve been married for a number of years and are the most relaxed when they''re together."  On hearing that, and after considering her words, everyone nodded agreement.  Yes, indeed, that was exactly how they were acting.  Since they''d all independently come to the conclusion that they''d eventually be married, they dropped the matter entirely.  From that day on, their discussions revolved around more pressing issues that needed to be dealt with.


    The actuality was not at all what they believed.  While it was true that Danica and Stavros could be apart for much of the day, or at a distance, without suffering the mental muzziness or severe anxiety that closely bound twins did, there was still some degree of background irritability on such occasions.  However, it was small enough that they never consciously noticed it.  What they had noticed was that they felt a greater sense of well-being, and had improved concentration, when they were near each other.  It was that which had resulted in their spending whatever free time they had together.


    -----------------


    The first few weeks after it was decided that Danica would stay with the Donetti''s had resulted in a feeling of "not quite relatives but not quite ordinary friends" growing between the two of them.  What changed their relationship permanently began one Saturday night.


    It was 2:03 am., and Mimi was walking down the hall.  She''d awakened and remembered that she''d been called away while cleaning a cupboard and had forgotten to close the door.  It was a trivial thing, but she knew it would nag at her, so she''d thrown on a robe and had gone to take care of it.  While on the way back, she''d passed by the children''s rooms and had heard faint moaning from Danica''s.


    She assumed that Danica was having a nightmare, but a long life of learning to ruthlessly discard assumptions caused her to quietly open the door and peek in.  What she saw was Danica peeking back.  Closing the door behind her, Mimi approached the bed and said, "Explain."


    At first Danica didn''t want to say anything, but the lectures she''d had from both Kaho and Sara immediately came to mind.  Never in her life did she want to go through that again, so she complied with Mimi''s command.  "Well, it''s not something big, really.  It''s just that...well, I''ve been having this sort of burning pain in my legs off and on for the past week or so.


    Mimi nodded.  "How much on, and how much off?"


    "Oh well, ah...I guess most of the time when I''m awake."  Danica shook her head.  "No, not that.  Actually they feel fine for a few hours after I soak in the bath every afternoon.  Then it gradually comes back.  It doesn''t bother me all that much until several hours afterwards."


    "I see."  Mimi lifted the covers and grabbed Danica''s calf.


    "OW!"


    "So, it''s like that is it?  Listen up child.  It''s all well and good to minimize thing when you''re with strangers or in public, but not at home or when you''re only with family.  You don''t seem to have taken Dr. Fukui''s instructions to heart yet.  Fortunately, things don''t seem to be so bad that I need to inform her of your failure, at least not yet.  BUT, there had best never be a next time.  Am I understood?"


    "Yes ma''am!"


    "Very good.  Now, here. Take off your nightgown and put on this robe.  Once that is done, you''ll take yourself to the bathing room and soak until 10 to 15 minutes after the pain is gone.  You will do this every night for now.  After 10 days or so, we''ll re-evaluate the situation and do whatever Kaho decides is appropriate."


    Dani nodded and hurried to comply.  As she did so, Mimi turned to leave the room.


    "Ah...Mimi.  Don''t leave.  How am I going to get to the bathing room by myself?"


    Mimi turned and looked at Dani with exasperation.  "Obviously, Stavros will take you and bring you back.  I''m much too busy to give up my sleep.  Once I fetch him back, and explain what he''s to do, there will be no problems."


    "But...he''s a boy.  Seeing me naked would be..."


    Mimi facepalmed.  This girl was more dense that she''d thought.  Or perhaps it was just lack of sleep that had turned off her mind.  She decided that, at least this time, she''d explain.


    Retracing her steps, she looked down at Danica.  "Tell me, just what will he see that he hasn''t already seen?  Not only that, he''s already touched, or been touched by, all the important parts of your body.  More importantly, do remember how he reacted when that happened?


    "Since you''re not thinking at the moment, I shall remind you.  His only response was to worry` for you.  Knowing him as you do now, do you have any real concern that he might behave differently tonight?  Besides, by now everyone in the family, except perhaps him, is well aware that you two will one day be married.


    "That being the case, can you tell me of anyone in this household who is a better choice for helping you with your health needs than your future spouse?  Not only that, giving him this responsibility will help him mature more quickly.  Since he''s more than two years younger than you, that will of itself be desirable."


    Danica''s only response was a subdued "Oh".


    Mimi nodded, and went to wake Stavros.  Her explanation to him was much shorter.  After telling him of Danica''s problem and the treatment needed, all she said was: "You''re the only one who doesn''t need as much sleep as the others, plus, you''re the only child who can carry her without help.


    "While in the bath, you are to hold her hand.  She''s strong enough now that, should she start to fall, you should easily be able to restrain her that way.  Touching anything else intentionally is not allowed.  I''m sure I don''t have to explain what will happen to you should that occur."


    Stavros frantically shook his head and obediently followed Mimi down the hall.  Just before he picked Dani up, Mimi said, "I shall arrange for all the others in the house to not approach the bathing room while you do this each night.  Now, get going.  When she''s finished, just wrap her in one of the heavy robes.  That way you''ll only need to dry her feet and lower legs.  After you get her back to her room, she can change out of the robe into her nightgown...after you leave the room."This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Once they arrived, Stavros undressed, helped her take off her robe, rinsed her off, picked her up, and settled her in the bath.  As instructed, he sat to her right side and held her hand. Not knowing where else to look, he stared at the ceiling.  Thereafter there were several minutes of awkward silence...finally broken by Danica sighing, and saying, "Ah.  The pain is already a bit better."


    Stav turned to look at her and saw her smiling back.  "Thank you for helping me again.  The day we met I felt that you were a reliable person.  Now I''m sure of it."


    He didn''t respond.  In fact, he barely heard her.  He was much too busy gazing into her lovely, golden eyes.


    Several minutes later she was on the edge of sleep when the a thought floated across her mind, "My.  This life is much more interesting than I''d originally thought it would be."


    About 15 minutes after the pain had completely disappeared, Dani woke and squeezed Stav''s  hand.  "Wake up ma??¨±q.  It''s time to go back to bed."


    "Oh, yeah, sure."  Stavros shook himself awake, carried Dani out of the bath, dried himself off, wrapped and dried Danica as per Mimi''s instructions, and then carried her up to bed.  After that he took himself off to his own bed and fell onto it face first.  He was asleep in seconds.


    -----------------------


    The next morning, Miranda spoke before anyone else,  "Danica, somehow, you look like you''re feeling better this morning.  Did something good happen?"


    Dani answered, "Yes.  As a matter of fact, it did.  Normally, in the wee hours of the morning, I''ve been somewhat chilled.  Mimi made a suggestion that helped me warm up.  She brought me a bathrobe last night.  I found that sleeping in it has made all the difference, and I didn''t feel cold when I awakened.  I''m much more comfortable this morning."


    Stavros barely stopped himself from performing a massive spit take. Not a word she''d said was actually untrue, but she''d left out every single important detail.  Once he''d calmed down, he realized that he was not only impressed but also proud of her.  The two of them would make quite the team when they were older.


    He spent the rest of breakfast wondering why he''d had that final thought and missed everything else than was said during the meal.


    ------------------------------


    It was approximately two weeks later that ''Suela and Heidi decided that they''d had enough suspense, and it was time for answers.  They were sitting on either side of Danica in the bath and exchanged a glance...and then several more.  Finally, ''Suela did a quick turn of her head and pointed her chin at Heidi, who shrugged her acceptance.


    "All right Dani, it''s time to spill it.  Explain if you please."


    Danica was almost used to this family asking about things without actually saying what they were talking about.  "All right, all right.  Let''s pretend that we''ve gone through the usual ''what are you talking about'' and ''you already know'' stuff.  Just say what you want me to tell you."


    "Mother mentioned it at breakfast a couple weeks back.  You looked better.  Not only do you look better, but within two days after that, you stopped complaining of aching when we are at school.


    "Not that we''re the suspicious sort or anything..."


    Dani barely restrained a loud guffaw as ''Suela picked up the conversation.  "but both of us are fairly light sleepers.  We''ve heard noises in the hallway early in the morning on several occasions lately.  Usually whispers and the sound of someone passing by.  Sometimes it''s been your voice, sometimes Mimi''s, but, almost always, we hear Stavros too.


    "So...sister dear, what have the three of you been doing?"


    "Oh...that..."  Danica stared up at the ceiling.  While she was, the others exchanged an "Ah-ha, got her!" look, then composed their faces and pretended to wait calmly for Dani to reply.


    "Well, actually, it was Mimi who found me out.  She discovered that I was having a lot of pain in my legs in the middle of the night.  Every night since then she''s had Stavros carry me to the bath so I can get in a second soak."  She gave them a ''that''s about it'' look and hoped that they''d let it go at that.


    Her hope was short lived as Heidi drawled, "Oh, I see.  That explains it.  It explains it if your brain is turned off.


    "First of all, I''ve already discussed it with ''Suela.  In all the years that she''s worked here, nobody has ever seen Mimi except when she''s fully dressed.  Knowing her, there''s no way that she''d be helping you in the bath, and we know that you still can''t completely support yourself, even in the bath."


    She pointed to herself and ''Suela.  "Otherwise, we wouldn''t be on either side of you right now."


    It was ''Suela''s turn. "Which means that Stavros has been helping you in the bath, just as he did the day you arrived here."


    Looking at Heidi, she asked, "Did I leave anything out Heidi?"


    "Nope, that about covers it.  Since we figured out what you''re doing, we''ve been taking turns listening at the door, especially when you come back to your room.  Every single time we only hear you and Stavros.  We only ever hear Mimi, occasionally, when you first head toward the bath. And that leads to our next question."


    ''Suela and Heidi might as well have been twins as they asked simultaneously, with a faint blush on their cheeks, "Just what have you two been doing in the bath besides soaking?"


    After that, they alternated, "Have you been kissing?"  "Does he stroke your breasts?"  "Or maybe somewhere else?"


    The final question was, again, together, as they stared at her with frantic eyes and almost panted, "Just how far have you gone, and what was it like?"


    Danica spent less than a second to make her decision, then swiftly raised both her hands and firmly bopped each of the others on the head.


    Her tone was one that an ice queen would envy, "Enough!  I''d thought that you were young ladies who were at least beginning to mature.  I see that I was wrong.  You''re just another two frivolous adolescents with their hormones out of control."


    Shocked silence was the only response to her words.  A few seconds later both of the others blushed to their shoulders and quickly slid under the water.


    Looking down at them, Danica figuratively patted herself on the back.  Job well done!


    When they surfaced, Dani glared at them a bit longer, then relented.  They were beginning to look like cowed puppies who''d gotten into trouble for chewing on someone''s slippers.


    "Now that we''ve established that your questions were extraordinarily rude and invasive, I''m going to answer you."


    Seeing the astonished shock on their faces almost make her giggle, but that would have ruined the effect, so she firmly told her face to behave.


    She smiled softly at them and, this time when she raised her hands, she gently patted them on the cheeks.


    "Who else can I talk to about this?  You two are the only people I can brag to and still trust to stay quiet, right?"


    Seeing nodding, and a hint of the earlier stimulation returning, she laid her hands on their heads and shook them gently. "What did I just say about that?"


    Heidi and ''Suela struggled to compose themselves and then turned their attention back to Dani.


    "Very well, that''s good enough, for now.


    "First of all, what we do in the bath, besides soak is...."


    She grinned at seeing the others vigorous nods. "Talk."


    Astonishment, surprise, and relief ran across the other''s faces.  As intrigued and excited as they were, in the back of their minds they''d truly not wanted to find out that Dani was already having sex with their brother.


    "Talk.  Just talk?" queried ''Suela.


    "Yes.  I talk about Soba, and life there.  Also about our experiences and what we saw as we journeyed here.


    "Stav tells me more about The City, its people, trade, how the various religions manage to get along and things like that."


    Heidi chimed in, disappointment evident in her voice, "You don''t touch, at all?"


    "Well, yes we do..."  As Dani dragged out her response, the others leaned toward her.


    "We hold hands, but that''s so Stav can keep me from slipping under water when I lose my balance."


    Blushing heavily again, Heidi queried, "But...ah...how can you manage to control yourselves when you''re both completely naked and completely private?  Especially Stav. He''s a boy after all, and they, at least from what I''ve seen of how they behave, seem to have almost no control of their hormones at all."


    "There are two reasons.  Stav told me that he works at having ''clinical detatchment''.  You both know how Dr. Fukui says that a physician needs to be able to step back from her emotions at times in order to do the best job with her patients.  He says he''s trying to do the same thing."


    She tapped her cheek with her fingertips and added slyly, "That and, on the second day, I told him to look at me all he wanted, until he was completely satisfied.  Which he did.  Of course, I did the same to him.  And, I can tell you that I enjoyed it.  Both the looking and being looked at."


    There were blushes all around after that, then Dani added, "After that, it was a lot easier.  Neither of us had to go through the ''I wonder if they''ll notice if I peek at them'', or ''I saw, but it was an accident.  I hope they won''t get mad and think I was staring on purpose'' situations.  Not that we don''t still look now and then. He is, after all, quite handsome and nicely built.


    "Seriously though, seeing that the one you love enjoys looking at you as well as spending time with you is thoroughly satisfying."


    Seeing half-belief and half-doubt on the other''s faces, she gave in. "When all that doesn''t work, I spend my time watching the water drops as they run down the wall, and he stares at the ceiling trying to find patterns in the cracks.  That, and Mimi has started to blink into the room now and then.  I''m sure you can imagine both how embarrassing it would be for her to catch us doing something and also how terrified we''d be of what she''d do to us if she did.  Right?"


    ''Suela and Heidi shuddered, nodded, and thereafter were silent, lost in their own thoughts until it was time to get out of the bath.

 Vol 4 - Ch 12 Plots and Schemes

    July 06, 726 AF


    Faizan had just arrived at the Donetti''s in order to deliver the rest of the tea set Miranda had ordered the day after he presented her with the teapot.  Just after he''d entered and handed the package to Mimi, he heard a noise above him and looked up toward the top of the staircase.  There he beheld Danica, and she was standing!  However, the next thing he noticed was a boy who seemed to be about her age, or a bit younger, standing next to her and with his arm around her waist!  Just as he was about to explode, the boy began to bow but was immediately stopped by Danica slapping him on the forehead.


    "You idiot!  What in the world are you thinking? You can''t be bowing to someone while you''re helping me stand up.  What if we''d overbalanced?  We''d have fallen all the way down the stairs.  Who knows how much we''d have been hurt?  We might even have died!


    "Still, since you were doing that in order to show respect to my father, I suppose that, just this once, I can forgive you."


    A multitude of thoughts and emotions were running through Faizan''s mind.  Anger, outrage, wonder, and, finally, acceptance.  It seemed that there was a valid reason for this stranger to be touching his daughter, maybe...


    While he was thinking, Danica continued speaking, "Father, your timing is excellent!  Today will be my first time walking down the stairs by myself."  She pouted, then added, "Though my balance is not yet very good.  I still need Stavros to keep me from falling over."


    With that she began, slowly, to walk down the stairs.  Her left hand was on the banister as she took the stairs, one at a time.  First the left foot, then the right, then on to the next step.  The entire time Stavros was leaning to his right to counterbalance her.


    Miranda, who was behind Faizan, slipped the couple a thumbs up, then added her own comments, "I know it''s hard to see her like this, but, while it has been slow, she has made steady progress...though Stavros is still the only child in the family strong enough to keep her from falling when she overbalances.  Dr. Fukui is hopeful that, within a couple of months, Dani will need less help and one of the girls will be able to take over."


    She cocked her head to the side and rested her chin on her palm.  "We still need to have both Stavros and Consuela help her on the way to school though.  Were it only him, it might take them an hour to arrive.


    "And, speaking of arrivals, yours is most serendipitous.  The reason Danica is coming downstairs is so she can have her violin lesson.  If you can spare the time, would you like to listen?  She''s doing very well for only having had two and a half months of practice."


    "Yes.  Yes I would."  Faizan nodded.  "If her teacher doesn''t mind?"


    A faint voice from the direction of the conservatory drifted over to them, "No. Her teacher doesn''t mind.  Please come on in."


    By then Danica and Stavros had reached the bottom of the stairs.  Danica grabbed the bottom of the banister with both hands while Stavros performed a full bow.  "I''m very pleased to meet you sir.  I''m Stavros Donetti, Danica''s temporary cousin, part-time helper, and full-time classmate."


    "Um, yes.  I see.  Thank you for helping my daughter."


    "No thanks are needed.  Even were she a stranger, it would be my honor to help someone in need."


    Faizan nodded. At least the boy was polite and well-spoken.  "Well then, please go ahead.  We shouldn''t keep the teacher waiting."


    "Yes sir."


    With that, Stavros again put his arm around Danica''s waist, she put hers around his shoulders, and they set off.  As they preceeded him, Faizan noticed that Stavros was continuing to lean toward his right so as to counterbalance Danica.  Her steps were slow, but steady, and she appeared to be supporting about 80% of her own weight.


    Upon their arrival in the conservatory, Faizan was introduced to Marcella, after which Mimi arrived with two extra folding chairs.  Faizan and Miranda seated themselves, followed by Stavros -- who took his usual seat and picked up the book he was currently reading.


    Marcela immediately began the lesson.  As it progressed, Faizan was impressed by two things.  The first was Marcela''s teaching techniques.  She was firm, but not a martinet.  She freely answered Danica''s questions, and gently guided her when her bowing technique or fingering were not quite right.  When the lesson was finished, Faizan stood and bowed to Marcela.  "Mrs. Piedmont, thank you so much for instructing my daughter.  I can see that she is taking great pleasure in learning how to play."Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    He then made his good-byes, and was escorted out by Mimi.  When Danica made to stand, Miranda gestured for her to remain seated.  Once she''d escorted Marcela to the door, she returned and asked, "How long were you two waiting up there for Faizan to arrive?"


    "Not all that long.  Maybe 10 minutes.  Mimi told us when he was about to knock, so all we had to do was stand up and move to the top of the stairs."  Danica grinned hugely as she answered.


    "Well done you two...and mission accomplished.  We needed your father''s first impression of Stavros to be favorable, and there''s no doubt that it was.  Now all we need to do is make sure that a certain young male in the family doesn''t screw things up next time they meet."  Miranda raised an eyebrow, smiled, then spun around and left the conservatory.  The kids exchanged grins and settled down.  Since there was nothing pressing, Dani was going to practice some more, and Stav would read until she was finished.


    As for her father, he was busy thinking as he headed back to his workshop.  Mostly he was thinking about what Danica had said.  Her, "just this once, I''ll forgive you" were the words Miriam always used toward him when he''d made a mistake while trying to help her with something.  Not only that, Dani had sounded just like her.  When had his little girl grown so much?  He was so focused on that, that he never considered that her arriving at the top of the stairs at the same time he came in through the door might not have been coincidental.


    An hour later Dani cased her violin and said, "It''s about time we thought about getting ready for dinner Stav."


    He nodded, closed his book, and set it down on the table.   After walking over to her, he stood in front of her, like always.  She raised her arms, like always, and he pulled her up.  Then, unlike always, she continued moving, leaned forward, and gently kissed him.  She giggled and said, "A reward for impressing my father."


    While he was frozen, she held onto his left shoulder with her right hand, turned, and picked her violin up off the table.  "Let''s go, shall we?"


    "Uh, sure.  Right."


    Anyone watching would have seen them swaying back and forth for the first five meters or so.  By then Stavros'' mind was back in gear, and he concentrated on their balance.  That way he could avoid thinking about what had just happened.


    ----------------------


    After they''d closed the shop that evening, Faizan called a meeting of both families.  Not wanting to waste time he said, "Brother, I''ve decided that you are right.  The third building we looked at is ideal.  There''s enough room for 12 or so workers, plus a sales area and a reception room for the clients on the ground floor.  Living quarters for as many as 20 on the second and third floors, and ample storage on the fourth.  Also, as our wives have insisted..."  He turned and grinned at Miriam and Zaynab, "the kitchen there is both the largest and easiest to move around in.


    "So...let us proceed before someone else buys the building."


    "But, husband, didn''t you say that the stairs were too narrow for Dani to manage, even after she''s able to come home?"


    "Yes, I did say that, but I saw her walking today when I delivered the Donetti''s order.  Even now she needs someone to help her balance, so, while she is improving, there is still a long way to go."


    "Excellent, excellent," said Aseel.  "I agree.  That''s definitely the best location too -- not to mention that the price is good.  If you have no objections, I''ll finalize the negotiations tomorrow."


    Seeing nodding all around, the meeting broke up.


    After they''d all gone to bed that night, Miriam turned to Faizan.  "All right.  What''s the real reason you changed your mind."


    He thought, briefly, of making up something, but realized that not once in the past 15 years had he been able to fool her.  "Our daughter is one of the bravest people I''ve ever known, and one of the best actors.  She''d have to be to hide her condition from us for so long.


    "No matter which building we buy, she''s never going to be able to manage so many stairs, and even the one with the widest staircase is truly too narrow for someone to carry her.  Add to that how slowly she walks, she''d have to leave for school almost two hours ahead of time to arrive on time even with someone helping her.


    A light came on in his mind, "Which may be the reason Mrs. Donetti said that...as a hint perhaps," he mumbled.


    "What did she say dear?"


    "Huh, oh, I said that out loud, did I?  Well, she mentioned that with only one person helping her to school, even from their home, it would take her an hour to get to school, and...  Wait a minute!


    "What are you women all up to?  You''re plotting something, probably all three of you."


    His mind was whirling, and, finally, it settled on an incident from three years ago, before they''d left Soba.


    "After we met with the Wise One, you stayed behind for a time."  He looked fiercely at MIriam.  "Just what did she tell you that you''ve not told me?"


    Miriam had the grace to look embarrassed, but, after thinking a while, she lifted her chin and explained everything.


    He nodded, then thought a while -- looking at nothing in particular on the wall, then exclaimed, "They tricked me!  It was a set-up.  I ought to..."


    Suddenly he twisted around so he could look directly at his wife, took a slow deep breath, then, calmly, asked, "You knew what they were planning to do today, didn''t you?"


    Smiling gently, she nodded.  "Yes my love.  He''s a good boy, and, if he turns out anything like his father and older brother, he''ll be an even better man.  Our Danica is destined for something far beyond what we could possibly have imagined for her back in Soba.  I have absolutely no idea what it might be, but I''m sure that it will be something wonderful."


    She wrapped her arms around Faizan''s head and pulled it to her chest.  While he grumbled about his "little girl" getting involved with a boy at such a young age, she continued to hold him until he''d calmed down.  When he started nibbling, she smiled.  He was so completely predictable, but he was also a wonderful man.  She started nibbling back, after which neither one of them spoke until they awoke in the morning.

 Vol 4 - Ch 13 The Flu and Consequences

    01:46 a.m. July 19, 726 AF


    Sara woke slowly and immediately wished that she were still asleep.  She ached from her hair to her toenails.  She felt the back of her neck and found that she was not only hot, she was nearly soaked with sweat.  Glancing to the sides she saw that Luigi and Paolo were sleeping soundly.  Paolo hadn''t slept well lately, for various reasons, and she was more than a little disinclined to wake him.


    Well, there was nothing for it.  She''d manage somehow.  Grimly she gritted her teeth, threw off the blanket, and carefully managed to get on her feet.  She gingerly wrapped a robe around herself and gradually worked her way down the hall toward the bathing room.  As she approached, she felt an odd pressure, as if something were trying to direct her away.  Irritated and determined, she waved her hand and the pressure ceased.  Well...that was easy.  As sick as she was, she didn''t think to question why there was an avoidance spell on the door to the bathroom.


    When she opened the door, her eyes widened in surprise.  Someone was already there.  Even as muzzy as she was, she recognized the two voices conversing in soft whispers.  Danica and Stavros?!  What in the world were they doing?


    She edged closer and heard Dani say, "Dummy.  It''s only been 10 minutes or so.  Of course the pain hasn''t stopped yet. Quit worrying so much.  Like it or not, it''ll be at least another 20 or 30 minutes before we can go back to bed."


    "That being the case, Stav, get your ass over here and help me.  I can barely move."  Sara''s words were followed by the sound of splashing and then sputtering as Stavros first slipped under the water and then struggled to right himself.


    "Sa...Sa...Sara?"


    "Who else in the family sounds like me?  Hurry up.  I''m burning with fever, and I''m having chills.  I need a soak, probably more than Dani does...for whatever it is that''s bothering her.  Get over here, rinse me off, and then help me into the bath."


    Dani and Stav exchanged worried glances.  "It''s OK Stav, I can hold myself up just fine as long as it''s in the water.  At least for a few minutes.  Hurry and go help Sister."


    "Ah, sure, right away."


    After he''d rinsed her sweat off and was helping Sara to the bath she gave him instructions in a grumpy but weak voice, "Put me where you can sit between the two of us.  As things are right now, I''m not sure I won''t fall over too if there''s nobody to hold me up."


    Once he''d settled Sara, he resumed his position.  Sara wrapped her left arm around his right and turned partially toward him.  "Don''t let me slip under the water, you hear me?"


    He nodded then felt Danica doing the same thing as Sara.  He turned toward Danica, surprise and concern on his face.  If Mimi found out what she''d just done, they''d both be in a world of hurt.


    As for Danica, she''d felt compelled to mimic Sara''s action.  It wasn''t that she was unstable, it was more that she didn''t like it when someone other than herself was touching him so intimately, even if it was necessary and someone in the family.


    Stavros, as he had the first time he''d helped Dani, tilted his head and stared at the ceiling.  He was sure that he''d find something interesting up there that he could concentrate on if he looked long enough.


    It was somewhat over an hour later that Mimi, was awakened by her inner trouble sensor. The children had been in the bath far too long.  When she arrived, she opened the door and silently flowed in.  She halted in surprise when she saw three people in the bath, then noted that all of them were asleep.  She also saw that Sara''s nightgown and robe were lying on the floor, as if they''d been hurriedly dropped.


    She picked them up and got a whiff of stale sweat as she did so.  She nodded.  So, Sara was ill.  Given her ability, it was no wonder that she''d managed to make her way here in spite of the avoidance spell Mimi cast on the door leading to the bath every night.


    `    Well, first things first.  She carefully tapped Sara on the shoulder.  When her eyes opened and focused on her face, Mimi put her finger to her lips and helped Sara out of the bath.  Once she was dry and in a clean robe, Sara said, "Explain."


    Mimi did, Sara nodded, then asked, "Will you help me back to my room?  I''m afraid that I''m still not feeling all that steady."


    When Mimi returned, the children were still asleep.  Mimi smiled fondly, then put her mildly stern face on and awakened them.  "What did I say about inappropriate touching?" she asked with some asperity.


    While Stavros was floundering mentally, trying to find a way to explain himself, Danica unexpectedly said, in a dry, almost clinical voice, "Stav has told me that you forbade him to touch me inappropriately.  You said nothing to me about how I was to touch him."Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    She grinned.  "Seeing that Sister Sara is gone, you must already know the circumstances, so why are you acting that way?"


    Then in a more serious tone, "Sometimes you are too much like Aunt Miranda.  I think you try too hard to play your role at times.  If you''re not careful, you may lose yourself to it."


    She turned and said, "Stavros, it''s time.  Take me back to bed if you please."


    "Uh, sure, right away."


    After they''d left, Mimi remained standing in the bathroom for some time, thinking about what Dani had said.  Perhaps, maybe, she was indeed living a bit too much within her character.


    ------------------


    August 04, 726 AF


    Genie burst through the front door to announce that she and Mario had arrived home.  At least that was her plan.  Just as she''d begun to thrust the door open, it was jerked back so quickly that she was barely able to keep her balance.  Once she straightened up, she beheld Mimi who, before Genie could say a word, quickly put her hand over Genie''s mouth and said softly, "Welcome home Genie, Mario.  Please come in."


    As the puzzled duo entered, they could hear the sound of a violin coming from the conservatory.


    After nodding comprehension at Mimi, who then removed her hand, Genie said, "Oh, right.  One of Mother''s letters said that that Danica girl had taken up violin.  Is she having a lesson?"


    Shaking her head in the negative, Mimi answered, "No, her next lesson is the day after tomorrow.  What you hear is Mrs. Piedmont practicing for her next concert."


    "Huh? Piedmont?  MARCELA PIEDMONT?!"


    Fortunately Mimi still had her hand over Genie''s mouth, so, as she shouted, it barely escaped.


    "SHHHH!  Not so loud."  Mimi nodded in answer to Genie''s question, then whispered to herself, "I see. Madame failed to inform her. I should have known...  Wait, then that means she also probably didn''t...  Interesting.  This should be fun...or not..."


    Suddenly, she realized that Danica had been right.  She was so caught up in her role that she was slowly becoming almost indifferent to anything but the game she was playing with Miranda.


    Quickly Mimi told the two why Marcela was there, and that there was more she needed to tell them later...privately.  After hearing Mimi''s explanation, Genie grabbed Mario and buried her face in his chest.  After a number of deep breaths, exasperated, muffled muttering escaped from Genie, "That woman!  She knows that I don''t deal well with things like this when she throws them at me.  I take back what I said before.  Mother''s so-called sense of humor is FAR worse than Hibiki''s."


    "What are you talking about love?" asked Mario with a puzzled expression.


    "The person playing the violin, Marcela Piedmont, is the most famous violinist in The City, and, probably, in all of Italy.  I can''t imagine how Mother got her to come here to practice.  It''s got to be another of her strange plots!  Whatever the rest of it is, well, I''m not sure I ever want to know."


    Miranda, who was working in her office, suddenly snickered and wondered what had prompted it,  not that it mattered enough for her to stop what she was doing and pursue the thought.  She had to finish her current task within the next two hours.


    After gesturing once more for silence, Mimi lead Mario and Genie to the door to the conservatory, where they found several of the staff gathered.  They glanced at the new arrivals, whispered: "Welcome home," and turned their attention back to the doorway.


    Somewhat miffed at the less than lukewarm reception, Genie was soon entranced by the music wafting through the door.  A moment later it stopped, and everyone dispersed back to their duties.


    Genie complained, "Dang, that was way too short".  As Genie and Mario turned to head off and get cleaned up, Mario stopped so suddenly that Genie ran into his back.


    "What''s with you?  Tell me when you''re going to do something like that."


    Mario''s only response was to raise his arm and point at the clock over the front door.


    Genie looked.  Her only response was, "Oh," after which she stepped to Mario''s side and pulled him toward their room.


    Mimi grinned, then entered the conservatory to assist Mrs. Piedmont.  But first she also glanced over her shoulder at the clock above the door.  Rather than the "moment" Genie had imagined, it had actually been over 30 minutes since the two had arrived home.


    ----------------


    After they''d unpacked, had a bath, and were sorting out their things, there was a knock at their door.  Upon opening it, they beheld Mimi, who had an uncharacteristic, broad smile on her face.


    "May I come in?"


    "Yes of course," answered Mario.  "Please do."


    "As I mentioned when you arrived home, there''s something that you need to know..."  Looking directly at Genie she said, remarkably calmly given how tense she was feeling, "Your mother is planning something even nastier than her usual.


    "In the past, I''ve felt that a maid has no business butting in on family affairs, no matter how...unpleasant...yes, let''s call it ''unpleasant'', such plots are.  However, in this case she''s crossed the line.  I can''t, in good conscience, let it go this time.  So..."


    When she''d finished explaining, Genie turned to Mario and said in a deceptively sweet voice, "Why don''t we visit Master Hiroshi''s dojo my love.  I''m sure some sparring would be beneficial given the circumstances."


    She followed that by growling, "Either that or we stay here and I start breaking things, or maybe even a certain person."


    --------------


    After they''d left, Mimi pondered the situation somewhat longer, then tentatively sent out a thought, "Master, if you have a moment please?  I have a dilemma, and I''ve not been able to come to a satisfactory conclusion as to how I should proceed."


    A gentle voice responded, "You''re overthinking the situation Subaru.  Just go along with what your current plan is.  As you have concluded, firmness is desirable, but rigidity is always to be avoided.  You should relax more.  Besides, you''ll have more fun that way.  If you don''t take time for that, your brain will eventually rot.


    "Should you have ongoing concerns in the future, discuss them with either Sara or Danica.  Although they''re very young, they''re both well qualified to deal with this particular type of problem."


    That was followed by, "When the celebration is concluded, deliver this to Miranda.  It looks as though it''s time for us to have another talk."  This time the voice was stern and commanding.


    Even though she was alone, Mimi still dropped into a full curtsy.  "It shall be as you say Master."


    As she stood, a letter with a wax seal bearing the logo of Brewster''s Books fell into her hands.

 Vol 4 - Ch 14 Attitude Adjustment

    Monday, August 12, AF 726


    After everyone had arrived for breakfast, and before anyone else could say anything, Genie stood, turned toward Stavros, and said, "Happy Birthday little brother.  Given your amazing ability to get into trouble, you''ve still somehow managed to survive till 13 years old.  I guess you''re finally growing up."


    Next she smiled at Danica and said, "Although we''ve only been back for just over a week, and we don''t know you as well as we''d like yet, it''s crystal clear that his meeting you has been the best thing that''s ever happened to him.  Therefore, Mario and I both, from the bottom of our hearts, wish for your happiness in the future."


    Mario also stood, both raised their juice glasses, and said in perfect unison, "Congratulations on your engagement!"


    There were mixed responses to their words.  Danica and Stavros turned toward each other, blushed faintly, and squeezed each other''s hands.  Miranda on the other hand was so shocked that her mouth actually fell open.  All her weeks of planning, the hours she spent awake at night gloating over how Genie would react when she surprised her with news of the engagement...all wasted.


    Mimi had contrived to be bending over to pour some tea for Miranda and, with her free hand, gently pushed Miranda''s mouth shut. "Careful Madame, you might catch a fly that way," she murmured.


    Acting as if she''d seen nothing, Genie calmly asked, "Mother, is there some sort of celebration planned for this evening?  If so, Mario and I are free and can help you get things organized."


    Had Mimi not still had her hand on Miranda''s chin, surely her mouth would have fallen open again.  In her entire life, Genie had never responded so calmly to something unexpected.  As Miranda struggled to think to of what to say next, Genie was inwardly shouting, "GOTCHA!"


    Finally Miranda numbly nodded and managed to get out a few words, "Ah, yes, indeed.  I could use some help.  Let''s discuss it after breakfast."


    Genie nodded back, and from there on breakfast proceeded as usual.


    ------------------


    The party that evening was relatively small -- there were only 26 people present --  Danica''s family, her uncle''s family, Robert and Richard Donetti''s families, Miranda''s parents, and the imam.  Consequently, all those who hadn''t met yet had enough time to become well enough acquainted with each other that the stiffness of meeting new people wore off.


    Miranda''s parents in particular hit it off with the elder Karongos.  As they all worked professionally with precious metals, the possibilities for future collaboration, and profits, were most attractive.  Soon, Mario was drawn into their discussion, and, a few minutes later, Robert and Richard joined them.  By the end of the party, all were seen to have broad smiles.


    Once the formalities of the engagement were completed, the imam and Paolo drifted to a small table at the side of the rental hall and stayed there till the party was over.  When they left, they shook hands and grinned at each other.


    Meanwhile, Heidi, Danica, Consuela, and Danica''s two teenage, female cousins spent the evening chatting about whatever topics cropped up.


    Sara, Genie, Miriam, Zaynab, Miranda, and Zaynab''s two daughters-in-law "supervised" and also talked about various things.


    Stavros was left to survive dealing with Danica''s two older brothers, and her male teen cousins.  Fortunately it was soon discovered that all five of them had similar, mischievous personalities. Once they found common ground, they spent the rest of the evening entertaining each other with tales of all the trouble they''d gotten into when they were younger.  Although Stavros was the youngest, the stories he told about what he and Consuela had gotten themselves into over the years, and more recently, what he''d finally figured out about Consuela and Heidi, garnered him substantial respect from the others.  Afterwards, many speculative glances were directed at the girls.


    While they were too young to be considered as a possible matches for Danica''s brothers, her cousins decided that getting to know the girls would be a good idea.


    By the time the party ended, the general consensus was that the two extended families were very likely to get on unusually well in the future.


    ---------------------------


    The next morning, after breakfast, Miranda wandered into her office.  She was still muzzy, both because the festivities last night had lasted much later than anyone had expected, and due to the fact that she and Robert had continued the celebration after they got home.


    For some reason, she had a vague feeling that she ought to be doing something other than her routine paperwork, but there was nothing that popped into her mind.  Oh well.  She stood behind her chair, stretched her arms over her head, and yawned.  Whatever it was would...


    Her eyes were suddenly drawn to a silver tray directly in front of her chair.  On it was a letter sealed with bright red wax.  Assuming that Mimi had put it there earlier in the morning, she sat and picked it up.  Since Mimi hadn''t said anything it couldn''t be urgent.  Still, since it was sitting where it would be the first thing she saw, it likely was of at least some importance.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Yawning again, she picked it up.  It would only take a few seconds to open it so then she''d know what... Ah SHIT!  The seal on the wax said "Brewster''s Books".  Immediately her hands began shaking and a cold sweat broke out on her brow.  Thus far, the only times Master O''Malley had initiated contact with her, she''d been in serious trouble.


    She took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself, then peeled off the seal and opened the letter.  There were only two words written.  "Look up."  She did and found herself facing Master O''Malley, who was standing right on the other side of her desk.


    She surprised both of them by saying, "OK.  You wouldn''t be here if I hadn''t screwed something up.  Right now, I have no idea what it is that I did wrong.  So, please, sit down and tell me what it is."


    O''Malley frowned at her.  "You have an incredible talent for trashing my impeccably prepared plans."


    They peered at her, wondering if she''d pick up on that, nodded, then waved a hand. "Not that you can remember right now, and that''s not the point today.  Still, your flexibility is one of your good traits.  Anyway... The reason I''m here is to help you get rid of a particular behavior that I could say isn''t so good, but that would be lying.  The one we''re going to talk about today is right on the verge of being heinous.  Still, it is correctable, and actually easily...though you may not think so after I''ve explained.


    "I''m amazed at how dense you can be at times though.  In this instance I gave you a warning some time ago.  Specifically at the party you threw the day before Mario and Eugenia left on their first trip."  They stroked their chin.  "Perhaps I should have let your face slam into the table after all..."


    Miranda threw her memory back to that night and, once she remembered the incident, said, "Oh please.  That trifle.  What I''d planned was just a little joke."


    "A joke.  ''Just a little joke.''  Since it was a joke, please explain it to me.  I''d dearly like to know what you find so funny about humiliating people."


    O''Malley tilted their head down and held up a restraining hand. "No, don''t answer that.  It was, mostly, rhetorical.  I don''t have a great deal of time today, so I''ll just explain what''s going on in your itty bitty brain to you, and, don''t worry, I''ll use small words.


    "A so-called ''practical joke'' can be fun, IF both people involved enjoy it.  Indeed, some people take great pleasure in trading pranks with each other, sometimes for years on end.  BUT, most of the time, the perpetrator puts their victim in a situation where they suffer at least some degree of pain, usually emotional, but sometimes physical as well.  Most of the time the situation results in the victim being doubly humiliated, both by the prank itself and then again when the perpetrator shames them verbally by essentially blaming the victim''s pain on their inability to see the humor in the situation.  In other words, they twist things to make everything the victim''s fault.


    "I wonder which category your pranks fall into..."  O''Malley was still not looking at her.


    "Now, before you try to justify yourself, I want you to pay careful attention to what I''m about to say.  Seeing as I''m in a good mood, and because you will, probably, understand, I''m going to tell you why you''ve been so thoughtlessly cruel so many times.  It''s because you''re lonely.


    "If you could look back to 10 years or so ago, you''d remember that your teasing at that time was verbal, and in front of the person you were teasing.  Yes, they were sometimes uncomfortable, but, like when Paolo and Sara first teased you about being late for dinner, it was primarily an expression of affection.


    "However, starting shortly after they were married, you began to drift into your current nasty self because you somehow convinced yourself that nobody loved you any more and that''s why you weren''t getting very many hugs.  It''s totally irrational, but humans and rationality have only a nodding acquaintance.


    "How you''re going to correct the problem will be, mostly, painless.  Whenever you get the urge to think up one of these idiotic plots of yours, you are to find someone and hug them.  You are to repeat the process, with however many people it takes, until such unworthy thoughts are no longer present.


    "Since you will find the entire process embarrassing at first, and will try to find excuses for not dealing directly with your loneliness, I''m going to give you an incentive.  If you actually start thinking up ways to actually prank someone, you''ll have the dubious pleasure of experiencing what you did at my store when you tried to speak after I''d told you not to."


    They bent forward and looked intently at Miranda from only half a meter away, "I trust that you remember that night."


    Before Miranda could make any kind of response, O''Malley said. "That''s all for now.  I''ve informed Subaru to tell anyone looking for you that you''re studying a particularly important problem and are not to be disturbed.  You might also consider putting up a silence before you start, crying, screaming, or breaking things.


    "That''s all."  So saying, O''Malley vanished, leaving the stricken Miranda behind to begin coming to grips with what she''d just heard.


    She never explained why she was shut up in her office for over five hours that day, but, considering what her job was, nobody thought of asking her.


    -----------------


    Over the next two weeks, all the family, including Danica and Mimi, occasionally found themselves being unexpectedly grabbed, usually from behind, and tightly squeezed.  When they were able to turn around, they would see Miranda, usually with flaming cheeks, hurrying away from them down the hall while they tried to catch their breath.


    After three weeks had passed, things changed.  Miranda would walk directly up to someone, say, "I need a hug," and then squeeze.  She still blushed somewhat, but it was much more agreeable for everyone else as, now, they were actually able to breathe while Miranda was hugging them.


    A month after that, much to the surprise of everyone in the family, they all found themselves hugging each other more often.


    The ones who took the greatest pleasure from all of this were Danica and Stavros.  Now they could they hug each other as much as they wanted in public.  Otherwise they might have had their need to touch each other build up until they were alone.


    This way they could avoid taking their relationship further than either was truly ready for.  In particular, it helped them retain their composure when they were in the bath each night.  Yes, both had continued doing their best to maintain something like a therapist-patient relationship there, and, at least so far, it was working.  Oh, they did occasionally have thoughts about moving forward since they were now engaged, but they were able to keep things under control.  (That Sara had now taken to dropping in at irregular times, along with Mimi''s visits, may have had at least a little to do with their success.)

 Vol 4 - Ch 15 Danicas Talent

    Sunday, August 31, AF 726


    At breakfast, Genie suddenly stretched and announced, "Mario and I will be leaving on a book-buying trip on Wednesday.  We''ll be gone for about two to two and a half months, depending on what we find and the weather."


    Mario lifted his face just long enough to say, "It also depends on how much profit we make from what we''ve bought here and sell when we get to Venice.  Whatever we get there will be about 90% of what we''ll be spending on the books."  After saying that, he devoted himself to his food.  Being on the road so much in the past decade, he''d gotten in the habit of eating quickly.  When traveling, missing meals due to sudden emergencies happened now and then, and Mario hated it when his food was cold.


    "What will you be taking with you Mario?" asked Danica.


    After he''d answered her, Danica stared at him, dumbfounded.  "Ah, as you know, I''m newly arrived here and not well acquainted with business, so forgive me if my question is presumptuous.  Would you please tell me how a merchant makes a profit when he pays 40% more here than he''ll get when he sells in Venice?"


    Mario froze, with his fork part-way to his mouth.  "What did you just say?"  Hurriedly he continued, "No, don''t answer that.  I heard you.  What I mean is, why did you say it?"


    "Well, Stavros took me to have tea at a cafe yesterday, and there were a couple of men who must have been traders at the next table.  They were talking about all kinds of things, but, near the end, one of them said that they needed to ''unload'' everything they had of that particular item you just mentioned ''before the bottom falls out of the market''.  They said that an entire shipload of it had just arrived in Venice."


    Before anyone else could respond, Stavros jumped into the conversation, "What?  Wait a minute.  What?  How....  I couldn''t understand anything they were saying.  I don''t even know what language they were speaking!  Just how many languages do you know?"


    Giggling at his stunned and exasperated expression, Danica answered, "I have no idea what language it was.  Somehow, after listening for a few minutes, I just somehow started to understand them."


    Frowning, she rested her chin on her hand and softly added, "You know.  For the past couple of weeks, I''ve been picking up bits and pieces of a number of languages, more so in the past few days.  I wonder why that is?"


    Suddenly both Sara and Mimi let out a loud, "OH!"


    Everyone else turned to look at whichever of them was closest, but all had an expression that clearly said, "Explain. Right now!"


    Mimi gestured toward Sara, and those watching her pivoted their heads in Sara''s direction.


    "Um... OK.  Right."  She whispered to herself, "That''ll work," then continued loud enough for the others to hear her, "It''s rather simple.  Danica has been soaking in the bath for extended periods twice a day for several months.  She''s needed to do that because, if she doesn''t, she still has quite a bit of pain in her legs at night.  Mimi and I have both helped her with it."


    Both Danica and Stavros suddenly showed great interest in their plates so as not to reveal their faces as Sara continued, "Given that Danica is still a teenager, and of an age for it to happen, the most likely thing is that, with the help of all the soaks, her ability has just manifested.  My suspicion is that she''s become a Resonant Linguist.  The skill is rare but it''s one I''ve seen mentioned in a list at the library.  It''s likely that she''ll be able to understand, and eventually speak, any language she''s exposed to for about half an hour.  That''s just an estimation, but it''s probably close enough."


    The looks directed at Danica were mostly astonished, except for Mario''s.  His was mostly thoughtful, with just a hint of greed.  He needed to introduce her to Alicia and Aldus as soon as humanly possible.


    "Ah, Danica.  Since you''re new here, why don''t Genie and I take you to lunch at our favorite restaurant today, as soon as I get back from selling the materials in question.  Besides lunch, there will be some friends there that we''d love to introduce you to."


    Genie blinked twice, then understanding hit. "That''s right.  That''s a great idea.  I think that you''ll enjoy the food and the company.  How about it?"


    Danica darted a quick glance at Stavros, who nodded slightly in response, after which she said, "That sounds like fun.  We''ll be glad to accompany you."


    As everyone else''s attention was directed toward the foot of the table, nobody besides Mimi saw Robert and Miranda turn to each other and nod.  They both had ideas about how they could use Danica''s talent, even though they realized that she''d be available only sporadically and for brief periods of time.  They''d have to work around her schedule.  Still, no matter how brief that time was, they figured that she''d be of immense help with certain matters.


    -------------------


    Danica thoroughly enjoyed herself.  To begin with, it was a lovely day.  She had rubbernecked the entire way during the carriage ride down the hill, asking Stavros to identify and/or explain everything she laid her eyes on, and lunch had been delicious.  As she was excitedly still asking questions, she never noticed that Mario made a small gesture as Aldus passed by.  Aldus almost hesitated for a moment, but decades of training kept him moving.  The gesture Mario had made was in the private sign language of The Company.  It meant, "Urgent that we speak as soon as possible."


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.    Shortly thereafter Alicia herself came to clear the table.  As she bent unusually far forward to pick up one of the dishes Genie whispered in her ear, "She likes art."


    After the table had been cleared, Alicia returned and spoke to Genie, "We''ve just acquired a lovely new landscape.  Would you like to see it?"


    Genie nodded enthusiastically, then turned to the others. "Would you like to come see it too?"


    Danica nodded, after which Stavros, who was generally indifferent to paintings, agreed, not that he had much choice.  Danica wasn''t able to walk on her own yet.  All four of them stood and followed Alicia to her office.  When they arrived, they found that four chairs had been arranged opposite the two desks in the room.  Aldus was casually leaning against his, with both his arms and legs crossed.  He said not a word, but fixed Mario with a "get on with it" expression.


    Once they''d heard Mario''s explanation of Danica''s ability, identical cunning expressions crossed Alicia''s and Aldus'' faces.  As they were lost in their thoughts, Danica''s words brought them crashing down to earth.


    "Twenty percent."


    Stunned expressions entered both their eyes.  What was this girl saying?


    "Isn''t that the usual commission when a broker facilitates a deal between parties.  Since I''ll be be the one enabling you to fleece your targets more effectively, that seems to me to be a reasonable share of the profits."


    Five people''s chins hit the floor.  Danica gently pushed Stavros'' mouth shut then continued, "A girl needs to have some spending money after all, and I don''t have any other source of income.  I expect that, after my commission is invested back into your company, there should be enough for me to withdraw a reasonable amount now and then.


    "Ten percent and no more!" exclaimed Aldus.


    "Eighteen percent."


    "Thirteen."


    "Fifteen."


    "Done," said Alicia.


    Danica smiled and said, "For now, I''ll have you invest 80% of my fee, and 80% of my share of the future profits, in your company.  You can deposit the remaining 20% in the account I''ll open tomorrow at Uncle Robert''s Merchant''s Bank with the advance you''ll be paying me today."


    After that, she held out her hand.


    Before the astonished gazes of Genie, Mario, and Stavros, Aldus and Alicia both suddenly broke out in gales of laughter.  Through it all, Danica sat unmoving, with her hand extended.


    Once they had themselves under control, Aldus and Alicia exchanged a smile, after which Aldus walked behind his desk, sat down, opened a drawer, and was seen to be doing...something.


    After a minute, he stood, approached Danica, and dropped a pouch in her hand.  "There''s 100 ducats in there."


    Turning to Mario he said, "Since you indicated the matter was urgent, I presume that this advance is appropriate."  He smiled, wolfishly, and continued, "It better be."


    Mario flinched, then stood.  "Yes Master, it is."  He then explained what Danica had told him at breakfast.  After hearing it, Alicia scurried out the door.  She had some urgent sales to make, as she''d also accumulated a moderate store of the product under discussion.


    Aldus nodded again, and said to Danica, "Depending on our success in arranging the purchase of another product..."  He bowed slightly, "with your help if necessary...we''ll begin the deposits you''ve requested.  Now, if there''s nothing else today, I have some other matters to deal with and..."


    He was interrupted by Danica, "The contract."


    Seeing her expression, Aldus laughed.  "Test passed with a 100% score."


    "I wish a certain apprentice of mine had been so astute in his early years..."  He glared at Mario, after which he returned to his desk and was seen to be writing for several minutes.  He carried two papers to Danica and said, "For your approval."


    She read it carefully, noting that he had not only included her family name, but he''d spelled it correctly.  She''d definitely hitched her wagon to the right mule.  She smiled to herself, wondering how Aldus would respond if she said that out loud.  Then she nodded and signed both copies with the quill he provided, right below his signature.


    Turning to Mario and Genie, she smiled and said, "Thank you so much. It has been a most interesting day.  Is there somewhere else you''d like to go, or should we go home now?"


    Mario mumbled, "Ah, no, I don''t think so.  Do you have anywhere you need to go Genie?"


    She was at least as shocked by what had just happened as he was.  "No...  No, I don''t think so.  Let''s go."


    ----------------------


    On the way back up the hill Danica took Stavros'' hand, smiled at him, and said, "It''s about time for you to start learning Arabic."


    "Huh.  Why?"  So as not to look entirely like a dunce he hurried to add, "Not that I mind.  I like learning new languages, but why Arabic?"


    "There are two reasons.  One, It''s the only one you don''t know that I can teach you, and, two, when we''re eavesdropping on people, won''t it be more useful if they think that we''re foreigners?  That way, it''s unlikely that they''ll think that we''re able to understand them when they try to hide what they''re talking about by speaking something other than Italian.


    "Other than that, the only disguise needed will be clothing."


    She looked him up and down.  "Yes.  You should be able to fit into some of my cousin''s old clothes.  If we''re both dressed in what we wore in Soba, and speaking Arabic, it''ll be easy to take you for a visitor rather than a resident.  In addition, with your coloring, you could easily be someone from that part of Africa."


    Genie and Mario exchanged a look and smiled.  They did manage, just barely, not to express their glee by rubbing their hands together.


    ---------------------


    During dinner that night, Danica suddenly asked, "Uncle Robert, may I have your assistance after dinner tonight...for just a few minutes, please?  I need some advice about something."


    The children rarely asked for his help any more, so Robert happily agreed.


    Once Stavros had helped her to Robert''s office, and had closed the door, Robert asked, "How may I be of assistance?"


    "Uncle Robert, I''ve signed a contract with someone today, and, though I''m sure it''s OK, I''d like your opinion.  Should I insist on any changes in the wording?  If there should be, it can still be changed, as long as I do it by tomorrow afternoon."


    "Of course dear.  I''ll be glad to review it.  Bring it here Stav."


    Stavros took the contract from Danica and handed it to his father.  After staring intently at it for several minutes, he looked up and smiled broadly.  "No.  No changes are necessary.  Also, I thank you for your confidence in my bank.


    "I presume that, at least for now, this matter between you is confidential?"


    Danica nodded, he nodded back, then both of them smiled.  Stavros was somewhat taken aback.  Why did both of them suddenly look like sharks?  His next thought washed the former out of his mind.  If she was already like this at 15, what would she be like when she was his mother''s age?


    Right then he decided that he''d, somehow, have to find an extra hour a day to work on his studies.  If he didn''t truly focus, by the time they were married she''d be so far ahead of him that, even if he sprinted for the rest of his life, he''d never catch up with her.  Surprisingly, he discovered that he wasn''t at all upset by the idea.  He hated being bored, and he realized that now he''d likely never be bored again for as long as he lived.

 Vol 4 - Ch 16 The World They Thought They Knew

    Like everyone else in the world, Danica couldn''t do everything, so, over the next six months, she slowly began to specialize.  In the end, she focused on two groups.  The first was craftsmen who were new to The City and had excellent skills but no money to open their own shops.  The second was those who were already established but had recently learned important information about trade opportunities that they themselves could not afford to pursue.


    It didn''t matter what was being crafted or what the trade might be.  Once she was certain that there was a high potential for profit, she passed the information along to Alicia and Aldus, who then investigated in detail.  Like any truly smart merchants, they didn''t try to take over.  Instead they provided whatever each business needed in order to succeed.  That could be funds for traders who had discovered new sources for gems, ceramics, or even specialty woods from Africa.  Sometimes they would train craftsmen who didn''t understand how to run a business (or provide someone skilled to do it for them).


    No matter what was needed, they provided it...in exchange for a 15% stake in the business.  Their offers were always accepted.  Nobody would trust someone who, out of the blue, appeared and offered loans.  They''d be suspected of trying to cheat the borrower.  However, investing in the business with such a minor stake meant that, no matter what, the original owner would remain in control.


    By the Spring of 728 AF, Aldus and Alicia were making twice as much as they had before beginning to work with Danica.  More importantly, none of the other major merchants in town learned that they were the ones backing so many, suddenly successful, small businesses in The City.  There was a confidentiality clause in every contract.  That those they contracted with remained silent was no surprise to Alicia and Aldus.  Their ability to do so was part of what they investigated before they made their investments.


    Danica never told Stavros how much she was making, nor did he ask.  However, the looks she exchanged with his father now and then were those of two people who were incredibly pleased with themselves.


    He did notice that she was voracious in devouring every single book he could find in the bookstores of The City, or that Sara could find in the libraries, that dealt with trade.  It didn''t matter if it was a history about trade routes, books discussing where things came from, or something about how currency values fluctuated.  If it involved trade, even peripherally, she would read it.


    To be truthful, he mostly ignored what she was reading.  He was focusing all of his attention on his own studies, and on writing.  As Paolo had agreed, once they turned 14, Stavros and Consuela began to help him with editing his book.


    Danica eventually asked Stavros what it was about.  As he was struggling to find a way to say something without saying anything, she said, "Now look.  You and I...I don''t want us to be one of those couples who waste time by trying to pry into each other''s secrets.  Everyone has some things that they have good reasons for not talking about.  If this is something like that just tell me.  Besides, we don''t have time to waste on worrying about things like that.  Both of us are far too busy, right?"


    "That''s for sure.  Even with us reviewing things in the bath every night, it seems that we''re never quite caught up.  So, uh...yeah.  I can''t tell you what it''s about.  Paolo may tell you if you ask, but...  Wait a minute.  I just had an idea that might solve several problems.  Are you free tomorrow afternoon?"


    After quickly reviewing her plans, Danica nodded slowly.  "Yes...  There''s nothing pressing.  What''s on your mind?"


    "Well, there''s this bookstore, sort of anyway, called Brewster''s Books.  It''s a bit far from here, which is why I''ve not taken you there yet.  But, somehow, I think that the owner there will be able to answer your question about Paolo''s book since he''s provided some reference books to Paolo.  Not only that, but I heard them mention once that they have over 10,000 books.  Even if they can''t tell you about what Paolo is writing, I''m certain that you''ll find some books that will be useful."


    Danica''s brow furrowed as she tried to figure out how something can be "sort of" a bookstore.  Regardless, just hearing about how many books there were, her eyes lit up with anticipation.  No matter what, it should be well worth the trip.


    "Sure, let''s go, after we''ve finished our homework, OK?"


    Seeing his nod and smile, she couldn''t help but relax and smile back.  Their relationship had started off in a very strange manner, and it still was to some degree, but she was now thoroughly convinced that there was unlikely to be anyone else who suited her so well.


    April 26 in The Year 728 AF


    Just as they arrived outside Brewster''s, they saw a literal horde of students from Ingvold enter the building.  Stav turned to Danica and said, "Well, I guess we''ll have to put up with a bit of crowding.  We''ve come too far to just turn back.  Is that OK?"


    Seeing her nod, they entered the store and found, to their surprise, that it was both silent and totally empty.  As they looked around, checking to see if all those people were somehow hiding behind the rows of shelves, O''Malley smiled at them and said, "I saw that you were coming, so I routed those other children into a separate instance.  This way we can talk without being interrupted."


    After looking at each other, and realizing that neither of them had the slightest idea of what O''Malley was talking about, they turned to them and were about to ask what was going on.  However, O''Malley beat them to it by saying, "Now, Miss Danica Karongo, you want to know about Paolo''s book."  After looking at her more closely for a few seconds, they continued, "Well, you actually want to know about a great many things, don''t you?  Regardless, there''s only so much we can do in a single day, or even in a single lifetime, so let''s start where we are and go from there.  Is that acceptable?"This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Danica nodded, nearly numb from trying to keep up with what this O''Malley person was saying.  Meanwhile, Stavros just rolled his eyes while he was thinking, "Same old drill as usual."  After being around O''Malley for several years now, he realized that there were, as always, two possible outcomes each time they met.  Either Stavros would never figure out what they were talking about, or, sometimes months later, he''d finally figure out what they meant.  Being around O''Malley was often maddening, but it was never, ever boring.


    O''Malley slipped a wink in Stavros'' direction and continued speaking, "Since you agree, what you want to see first is on the desk in Alcove 4."  Seeing confusion, they added, "Count from the left as you go in.  You''ll understand when you get there."


    "Now, hurry along.  Another group from Ingvold will be arriving soon, and I need to send them to the same instance as the other students."


    "Uh, sure, right away."  Stavros shepherded Danica toward the hallway, hiding a smile as they went.  O''Malley was a being about whom he understood only one thing.  He couldn''t understand them.  That being the case, he''d settled on looking forward to whatever was going to happen next when O''Malley sent him down the hall into the "special" store.


    As all first-timers did, Danica froze when she got a look at their destination. While she was gaping, Stav was counting.  Soon enough he''d found the assigned alcove and headed them that way.  Once they arrived, he saw a comfortable looking armchair and a desk with two books on it.  He settled Dani behind the desk and said, "You go ahead and get started.  I''m going to grab a book I was reading the last time I was here.  I''ll be right back."


    "Uh, sure.  OK."  Still numb from what she had seen, Danica picked up the top book and opened it to the title page.  Her confusion was immediately overwritten by excitement as she read: "Case Studies in Economics: The Nabataeans.  Political Effects on Trade Routes".  Ohhhh.  This should be good!


    She quickly set it to the side and opened the cover of the second book with her forefinger.  Just inside the cover was a sheet of paper with closely spaced handwriting.  "Miss Karongo, while the subject matter of this book is not specifically relevant to your current needs, the same general principles apply to shipping by sea and the location of ports.  Oh, by the way, you are not to mention the title or any specifics of the content to anyone under any circumstances.  Once you begin to grasp the contents, I''m sure that you''ll understand why.  Also, before you ask, ''Yes'', your language ability works with the written word as well as spoken language, and is also much faster.  So, don''t worry about anyone else in the family picking it up and reading it.  Nobody else on this planet can read the language it''s written in.  Should someone ask you about it, just tell everyone that it''s a novel written in an obscure, African language you happen to know.  There''s no hurry, but, when you''re finished, please return it to me.  There will be someone else in The City who''ll need it sometime in the next few years."


    Odd.  Does that mean that the language is from a different planet?  She shuddered.  Right now, her mind didn''t want to go there.  Instead, she flipped to the title page while thinking, "Why in the world is there a need to be so secretive?"  Suddenly she froze, only her eyes moving as she scanned down the page, "Portal Distribution -- Economic Effects on Intra-Galactic and Inter-Planar Trade".


    Very slowly and carefully she closed the cover, then picked up the other book.  She wasn''t quite ready for...whatever Portals were.  She''d start with reading about the Nabataeans.  At least she''d heard of them before.  As she recalled, they had something to do with the spice trade, or something like that, several centuries in the past.


    When Stavros returned, he found her immersed in the book.  Smiling affectionately, he quietly sat in the armchair and picked up from where he''d left off in his own volume.


    They left about two hours later.  Stavros had put the book he was reading back on the shelf it came from.  "There''s a lot of information in it, and I need a week or two every time to digest what I read the time before.  If I had it at home, I''d probably go through it so fast that I''d forget half of it."


    Danica nodded.  As they proceeded back up the hill, her mind was on the Nabataeans.  Some of what she''d read would be immediately useful.  She''d have to discuss it with Aldus and Alicia within the next week or so.  As for the other book...  She expected that she''d better bite the bullet and at least read the introduction.  Given the subject matter, it was likely that she''d be just like Stav and need a week, or maybe a month, to digest each chapter.


    After they left, O''Malley had a huge smile on their face.  What they''d said about "nobody" on the planet being able to read the book was entirely accurate.  Even "Lady Blue" wouldn''t be able to read it, which was likely to drive her crazy when she discovered that the book existed.  Even with what had happened recently, she''d still not truly admitted to herself that things sometimes happened without her needing to meddle.  A small dose of humble pie was definitely appropriate.


    ------------


    For the first time in his life, Stavros began to understand why he''d heard people complain of becoming tired after walking uphill in The City.  To be frank, he''d always thought that there was something wrong with them.  After all, he and ''Suela had invariably run up the hill without any problems.  Consequently, both he and Danica had discounted the slope, what with it being so gentle.  Danica could be forgiven, as she''d only walked uphill for any distance once since her arrival in The City, on the day she''d first started at Chapman.


    Today however, she soon found herself not only running out of energy, but also developing cramps in her legs.  Finally it got beyond what she could tolerate, so she stopped.  "Stav, I just can''t go on any further.  I''m exhausted, and I have cramps in my legs that are killing me.  I''m going to have to rest for a while."


    "Oh gosh... I''m so sorry!  I should have known," exclaimed the very flustered Stavros.  "I just didn''t think..."  He sighed deeply.  That''s what everyone always told him was his main problem.  He didn''t think, he just ''did'' whatever it was without planning ahead.


    "Well, we''re only about 500 meters from home, so it''s not like it''s going to be a major problem."


    "Huh?  Whatever are you talking about?"


    Instead of answering with words, Stavros did so with action.  He bent over and easily picked her up in a "princess carry" and headed up the hill at his usual brisk pace.


    "Ah, no!  Don''t.  Put me down!  This is soooo embarrassing!"


    "Sorry sweetheart, not a chance.  You need to get home and into the bath as soon as possible, and this is the way we''re going to do it.  So quit wiggling.  If I drop you, we''re both going to regret it.  You concentrate on holding onto the books.  O''Malley will have a hissy fit if they get damaged, especially if it''s because we were careless."


    Reflexively, she wrapped her arms more tightly around the books.  She barely knew O''Malley, but, considering how clean the "store" was, and how orderly everything was, she didn''t doubt Stavros'' words for a moment.


    Seeing that she had quieted down, Stavros broke into an easy trot.  They should be home within another two minutes.

 Vol 4 - Ch 17 The Psi-worm

    When they arrived, Mimi answered the door.  Fortunately she had just returned from doing a "quick errand" for The Master.  As always, their explanations left a lot to be desired.  She''d winced when they''d told her that it would "only take a few minutes".  While technically true, it had required her to blink across three planes, each way.  It wasn''t that she was going to complain.  Even if she''d wanted to it wouldn''t have done her any good.  Master would have just cocked their head and given her a "what''s the big deal" look and then explained that besides finishing the errand quckly, she''d also get some much needed practice in shifting across planes quickly.  In other words, "O''Malley" came out ahead, and so did she.  That it left her exceedingly tired wasn''t something The Master would ever consider wasting time or thought on.


    As Stavros bustled through the door, he threw out, "I screwed up, and Dani''s legs are really bad.  Please ask Dr. Fukui to come by later, and please take the books.  I''m taking her straight to the bath."


    Mimi''s shoulders fell.  That human saying, "It never rains but it pours," certainly fit.  Fortunately, she didn''t need to get Kaho personally.


    "Ailin. Kaho is needed for Danica.  It''s not urgent, but today rather than tomorrow please.  I can''t go myself right now, so, if you would?"


    "Right.  I can get free within the hour.  Will that do?"


    "Surely.  Thanks love.  I''ll thank you in person tonight."


    "Ummmm.  Looking forward to it.  It''s been a while.  See you later."


    Mimi almost blushed.  The feelings that man could transmit across an emotional link were incredibly strong.  Though she had to admit that, now that he''d mentioned it, she felt some intense anticipation herself.


    Oh well, that was for later.  For now, she needed to put these books away and...  WHAT THE HELL was The Master thinking when they gave her book on portals to Danica?!


    "I was thinking about everything and everywhere, just like always.  I told Danica that there was nobody else on the planet who could read that particular book.  At the time I told her, you were not on the planet, so it was literally true.  That''s because I''d rather not have you discussing it with her.  It would totally ruin the case of hero worship she''s going to be developing if she learns that the author she''s about to adore was working as a maid in her home.


    "As for why I gave it to her...  Assuming my visualization is correct, she''s going to need to know what''s in your book for a very important project she''ll begin in about 629 years."


    Mimi felt O''Malley withdrawing their consciousness.  Hah!  "Assuming my visualization is correct" my foot!  She couldn''t think of a single time in the past three or four thousand years that The Master had been off by as much as a single day when they made a prediction.


    As for herself, she predicted that, right now, she needed to put the books away and then be standing by when the rest of the family learned that Danica and Stavros had been bathing together every night for almost two years.  After today, there was no way they''d be able to hide it any more.


    Or so she thought.  For unknown reasons, not a single family member or servant was evident anywhere near the bathing room during the next hour and a half.  By the time Kaho arrived, Danica was propped up in bed and Stavros was kneeling on the floor facing the door.


    As always, Mimi took Kaho''s scarf as she entered the house.  Unlike always, she contrived to touch Kaho''s wrist for several seconds while she was helping Kaho with the scarf.


    "Something is very, very wrong.  For several months, I''ve occasionally felt a malicious presence in the house.  Today, just as Dani and Stavros entered the bath, I felt it again, AND the second level of my  psi shield was triggered.  Be careful if you please."


    Kaho nodded and then proceeded to behave as she always did, but her mind was churning. What in the world could be going in?  By the time she reached Danica''s door, she decided that watching would be enough for today.  If nothing presented itself, she''d take more aggressive action at a later date.  For now, she had a patient to terrorize.


    As she briskly opened the door, Stavros bent forward and put his forehead on the floor.  He began with, "I''m so, so sorry. I..."


    "Be silent.  This has nothing to do with you, unless you''re now claiming to have the same gift of Foresight as Priss?  No?  I thought not.  On your feet and get out of here. I  have a patient to examine."


    As Stavros gaped at her, Kaho crossed her arms on her chest and glowered at him.  "Why are you still here?"


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!    "Oh, yes, certainly.  Leaving the room.  Immediately.  Yes."  With that said, he bustled out of the room and carefully closed the door.


    Danica was looking at Kaho as if she were afraid of being bitten and at the same time wondering if Kaho were venomous.


    Kaho stared back, carefully scanning her face, then threw back the covers and checked her legs.  Occasionally Danica winced, but, other than that she evinced no signs of tenderness.


    When she was finished, Kaho recovered Dani''s legs, crossed her arms again, and stared at the ceiling, seemingly deep in thought.  As she did so, she caught Dani''s lips twist ever so slightly into a sneer and her eyes narrowing in self-satisfaction.


    When Kaho turned back to actually look at Danica, the only expression on her face was one of worry.


    "I have nothing new to say to you child.  In a day or two, when I''m less angry, I''ll return and speak to you.  Until then...  Bah.  That''s enough.  Goodbye!"


    Kaho stalked out the door and down the street, her anger apparent to everyone she passed.  As this was not unusual behavior for her, most of the passers-by paid it no mind.  They made way for her, then went on about their business.


    When Kaho was far enough away that she could no longer sense the minds of anyone in the Donetti home, she picked up her pace and allowed her face to assume its normal, professional expression.


    Minutes later, she strode into Brewster''s Books and motioned with her eyes for O''Malley to follow her.  As they approached, she "accidentally" brushed their sleeve and touched O''Malley''s hand. At that instant she took both of them into Un-Time.


    "Master...  Good news, bad news, and worse news.  I found a psi-worm, it''s in Danica, and it''s probably been there for over a year.  It''s so deeply entrenched that I''m not sure I can remove it without damaging Danica''s brain, and, even if I could do it safely, her personality would likely be damaged."


    O''Malley nodded and stroked their chin several times.  When Blue activated the program creating this universe, they''d noticed a bug 12,347 lines deep in a sub-sub-sub-sub routine.  Whenever this particular bug appeared, one or more psi-worms were always the result.  It was common in the first works of younglings such as Blue, but it was always caught by their professors, which would have been the case here also had Blue not hidden this program and piggy-backed it on those being implemented by the others in her class.  The biggest problem with this particular bug was that there was no way to anticipate when or where in the universe it would manifest.


    No matter.  What was was.  Now all they had to do was fix the problem.  Thus they turned to "Kaho" and said, "As you wish.  I shall correct the error.  Since psi-worms always become sentient if they''ve been in residence for over half a year, I''ll need to make some adjustments so as not to destroy it.  Even so, I expect that I''ll have this wrapped up by the time you return to your current home.  Fare you well youngling."


    Kaho found herself back in the entrance of the bookstore.  She turned, exited, and headed back uphill. She still had several appointments before she could rest for the day.


    O''Malley, on the other hand, remained in Un-Time.  Psi-worms craved strong emotions, which was why they tended to push situations toward the darker ones.  Truth be told, in most beings they lasted longer than happy ones.  That being the case, they spent a bit of time finding just the right place to put it, and...yes.  There.  That would suit all involved.


    As for the worm, it was satisfied.  Danica''s horror at Kaho''s reaction pleased it no end.  As exhaustion finally overtook Danica, she gradually fell into a fitful sleep.  The worm, on the other hand, fell deeply asleep, its feelings being entirely those of satiation.


    Stavros also had fallen asleep, both due to mental exhaustion and his physical tiredness.  He was in good shape, but running uphill with another person in your arms would tire out almost anyone.


    --------------------


    Both Stavros and Danica were awakened by Mimi informing them that they''d "best hurry along" if they didn''t want to irritate Madame Miranda by being late for dinner.  As they hurried to get ready, Danica explained what Kaho had told her after her exam.  First she''d explained what had happened.  Apparently Danica''s judgment had been interfered with by something called "fatigue toxins", whatever those were.  They decided that wasn''t all that important, but what was important was Kaho explaining how to prevent them from building up in the future.  That, and her warning that if it happened again, she would not be happy.


    By then, both of them knew that Kaho allowed one mistake, especially if one didn''t know that one was making said mistake.  However, they also knew that she didn''t allow a second one after she''d explained the first time.


    They promised each other not to do so again, after which they inspected each other''s clothing, nodded, and then Stavros carried her down to dinner.


    -----------------------


    The psi-worm awoke slowly.  Something wasn''t right. It was warm, yes.  That was like always.  But, for some reason, it couldn''t see.  Also, it felt wet all over its body.  Not only that, its mind seemed to be unusually sluggish.  It was finding it very hard to concentrate.


    One thing that was within its expectations was that it was bathed with emotions.  Anxiety, some fear, and, surprisingly strong feelings of hope and anticipation.  What was unusual was that there were definitely multiple sources instead of the normal one or two.  It was also surprised to discover that there was such intense pleasure in feeling said hope and anticipation.


    As it pondered, it found its thoughts becoming more and more sluggish.  Not only that, but its memories were fading.  It struggled to get up, but found itself being squeezed tightly and unable to move.  Not only that, there was a great deal of pressure on its head.  Truly it was extraordinarily uncomfortable.


    Suddenly, the emotions around it became even more intense, distracting it, and it reveled in them.  An indefinite time later, it felt itself moving more quickly, and it became afraid.  It had never before been afraid, or for that matter, felt much of anything by itself.  It had always fed on the emotions of others.  Something was very, very wrong.


    Again, it began to struggle, but, the more it did so, the more its memories faded.  Suddenly it was surrounded by blinding light and it felt cold.  It tried to speak, but it no longer remembered how.  Nothing was left but its fear and it screamed out, "WAAAAAAA!"


    "It''s a girl!  Congratulations!"

 Story 1 - Birds of a Feather

    Ptica was, for once, grateful for the sound-dampening device she needed to wear.  Because of it, none of the students could see the fangs that she bared as she smiled at them.  She wanted them cooperative, and somewhat intimidated, not terrified.


    "I welcome you to the Applied Sociology Mini-Seminars.  As this series is available only as an elective, and every one of you had to shuffle your schedules to make room for it, I shall forego my usual attempts to scare away the uninterested and unmotivated.  Instead I shall, just for today mind you, express my personal satisfaction and pleasure that you have chosen to attend."


    She darted her head to the side and fixed her gaze on one particular student, "That isn''t for public distribution.  Just this once the gossip mill needs to remain silent...if you take my meaning Xiland."


    Seeing frantic motions of agreement from the being in question, she turned back to the rest of the class and fluffed her feathers.


    "The purpose of these seminars is simple.  They exist to provide you with a more thorough understanding of a number of situations that you were exposed to in App. Soc. VII and VIII.  Thus far we''ve barely scratched the surface of the culture of The City of The Bells.  These seminars will provide you with more background and also a look at what happened prior to and after the material you saw in the regular classes.


    "As I despise wasting time, I shall stop my introduction there.  You''ve all read the introductory material, otherwise you wouldn''t be here.  So let''s begin with Miranda Donetti back when she was 13 and  still Miranda Kastner.  It''s a reasonable starting point...and I must admit that the title of this segment tickles my fancy."


    ------------------------


    At age 13 Miranda Kastner was already taller than most adults.  With some makeup help from her older sister Anna, and by borrowing her clothes, they could pass as twins, even though Anna was already 17.  Anna had taken advantage of this on numerous occasions when she was the target of  overly amorous and, to be frank, greedy men who were interested in marrying the family money, with her as, at best, a distant afterthought.


    What had surprised and depressed Miranda the most was that none of them knew that Anna didn''t have a twin.  You''d think that someone wanting to marry into the family would have at least researched how many children there were and their ages.  While going with Anna to various parties and wedding receptions was, at best, boring, she dearly loved her sister and would have done anything to avoid seeing her in pain.


    One natural consequence of all this was that she herself had become soured toward the entire concept of marriage.  She''d decided that she''d very much prefer to remain unmarried if all she had to choose from were men as shallow as those chasing after her sister.  In the ensuing years, she saw nothing that gave even the slightest nudge to her assessment.


    She was almost 17 when something at the edges of her awareness began to gnaw at her, like a minor itch you can''t quite reach but is not, as of yet, bad enough that you''re going to take yourself off to someplace private so you can get at it.  Eventually she noticed that whatever it was happened only at parties somehow involving the Donetti family.  That was when she began counting.


    Five months later, after adding up all the parties that they''d attended, which were far too many as far as she was concerned, she realized that the percentage of those with members of the Donetti family present, or thrown by them, had gradually grown to be almost 80% of the total.  That was when she came to the conclusion that, which she felt was brilliant of her at the time, there was something about that particular family that was either attractive to her sister, or, perhaps, of value to her family in some way.  She almost dislocated her shoulder from patting herself on the back when she realized that it might just be both.


    That, of course, left her with a tiny problem.  Now that she''d figured out the connection, what was she going to do about it?  After due deliberation, she decided to ask the person most likely to be able to shed light on her problem.


    (No, she didn''t ask her sister.  That would have made much too much sense, and Miranda didn''t have any yet.)


    She decided to ask her parents.  She reasoned that, as her father was the designer and her mother the master crafter at their store, Journey''s End, they might know something useful considering their daily contact with the nobility and more prominent citizens of The City.  (And anyone who was filthy rich, but we won''t go there during this class.)


    Miranda waited till one evening when Anna was out with friends then approached her parents with her question.  For her, at that time, she was rather subtle.  She flopped herself into a chair across the room from her parents and said, "Anna keeps dragging me to parties where the Donetti''s are hanging out.  You know what''s going on?"


    She was rather proud of herself.  She didn''t swear even once in either sentence.


    Her parents exchanged a glance and nodded slightly at each other.  Miranda had confirmed their suspicions.  Now all they had to do was keep her from fouling things up.  They needed a distraction of some sort.


    Her father had a sudden inspiration.  "That''s a good question, but, sad to say, not one that we can answer right now."


    As Manda started to stand, in preparation for stomping her way out of the room, her mother added, "But there may well be a way for you to find out."


    Miranda started to open her mouth to answer, but her mother acted first.  She shook her head, as if thinking to herself.  "No....  That won''t work.  You aren''t patient enough for something like that."


    Her father nodded his agreement.  "I''m afraid you''re right Jo.  We''re going to have to think of something else."


    Just before she blurted out that she could too be patient, Miranda realized that doing so would instantly disprove her statement.  Difficult as it was, she sat carefully and composed herself.  It was about as easy as pulling an old rusty nail with her teeth, but she persevered.  "Mother.  Father.  I believe that I am capable of being just as patient as is necessary when it comes to helping my sister.  Please inform me of what it is you are considering."


    She was very proud of herself.  The expressions on her parent''s faces were clear evidence that her desire to destroy something rather than sit there and act "ladylike" hadn''t shown.


    (Yes, yes.  I know.  You''re wondering how a girl who was the personification of the word "tomboy" or perhaps "cataclysmic force of nature" was able to keep her sister company at so many parties without drawing undue attention with her speech and behaviors.  I''ll even give you a serious answer.  When she went out with her sister, she assumed the persona of someone the age she appeared to be.  It wasn''t entirely conscious.  It simply felt to her that that''s the way it ought to be.


    Then, as now, the one thing paramount in her life was organization.  She was happiest when everything fit in the appropriate boxes.  As a consequence, when she pretended to be Anna''s twin, her "this is how a young woman nearly 20 behaves at a formal party" box was opened and she put on that persona for the evening.)


    Her mother drawled, "Well....  It might work."


    Turning to Ignatius she asked, "What do you think dear?  Should we give it a try?"


    He responded with, "I suppose that if Manda is certain that she can do it..."


    Miranda clenched her teeth together to avoid shouting.  She managed to respond with only a nod.


    Her parents exchanged another glance and the tiniest hint of a smile formed on each of their faces.  They''d sucked her in.  Now to see how things worked out.


    Josephine smiled and nodded at her daughter.  "Very well dear.  It''s probably worth a try.  What it comes down to is this.  Your sister is probably involved with something that has to do with the older Donetti son RIchard.  He''s only a few months older than she is, so that''s likely.


    "It is, however, unlikely that you''ll be able to find anything out from him directly, but you might have some success with his younger brother Robert.  He''s close to your age, just a few months more than a year older than you are.  As luck would have it, there''re to be a series of weekly conferences discussing ways to better organize city services in the various districts.  There are problems with everything from making sure that there''s enough lamp oil for the street lights at night to properly scheduling street repairs so as to disrupt commerce and tourism as little as possible.


    "Since all these projects require funds, and the Donetti''s are in the business of providing money to people, Robert is being sent there to see if any useful connections can be made.  If you attended also, and happened to run into him, I''m sure you could figure out something to talk about.  If you''re able to do that regularly, you might be able to slip in a question about Anna now and then."


    Her mother smiled at her again.  "How does that sound dear?"


    Miranda wasn''t necessarily all that interested in The City as a whole, but when she heard that the meetings were to be about getting things organized properly, her ears perked up.  It didn''t really matter to  her what was being organized.  Organizing things meant that there were fewer surprises in life, and that made things better.  That part of her was absolutely true to the German side of her heritage, and it was something she could heartily agree with.  Perhaps this wouldn''t be so bad after all.


    The first meeting was just three days later, on Friday.  Her mother had persuaded her that it might be problematic if she made herself up to look like she were in her early 20''s when the person she needed to connect to was not quite 18.  What they came up with was a more mature appearance for her face, but with clothing that definitely wouldn''t be worn by someone over 18, 19 at the most.


    When she arrived that evening, she was manifesting her 20''s personality.  She''d figured that if she stomped in as her usual self she''d draw too much attention of the unwanted kind.  Once inside the building, she slipped off to the side and against a wall so as to be less obtrusive.


    When it was time to begin, people were still milling around, chatting, looking for seats, and generally not being very organized, which irritated Manda no end.  She was of a mind to leave, but her need to obtain information for her sister compelled her to stay in spite of her personal desires.  What was left to do was figure out where this Robert Donetti was.  Given his age, it was likely that he''d be the youngest person here besides herself, so she stood on her toes and tried to see around the people in front of her.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "My.  You''re taller than I''d thought.  It must be nice to be able to see over people like that, though I can''t for the life of me figure out why you''re so interested in all these boring old fogies."


    Manda muttered, "Ya got that right buddy," before she belatedly realized that she just might want to see who she was talking to.


    She twisted to her right, still up on her toes, and saw a young man of about her own age.  He was a bit taller than average, being about 173 cm, which made him only 10 cm shorter than she was when she was standing normally.


    All she managed to say once she saw him was, "Oh."


    He responded in kind, "''Oh'' yourself.  Hi there.  I''m Robert Donetti.  I''ve seen you at a few parties with your sister Anna.  At least I''m pretty sure that you''re you.  Somehow you look older and younger all at once."


    Manda noticed that it was a rather nice laugh.  "Well, I don''t need ta look old enough to be her twin here, so I sorta settled in the middle.  Ya see?"


    "Not really, but I''ll take your word for it.  You sound different too."


    OOPS!  She''s slipped out of her persona.  It was too late to switch back, so she settled for just trying not to cuss while she was talking to him.


    "Well, ya see, when I''m pretending ta be her twin and am trying to keep all those money-grubbing as...ah, those overly attentive gentlemen away, I need to match how she looks and sounds.  Let me tell ya, it''s hard work too!"


    Robert noticed that her harsh glare softened as she added, "But I''d do anything to protect her.  She deserves much more than one of that lot."


    He smiled up at her.  "If you don''t mind, it''d be easier to talk to you if you got down off your toes.  I''m afraid I''ll get a crick in my neck if I have to keep looking up that far."


    Manda flopped down with a jerk.  "Ah.  Yeah.  I ''spose you''re right."


    She turned to fully face him.  "Now that I think of it, I didn''t get yer name.  Who in he..ah, who did you say you are?"


    Robert covered his mouth with his hand and managed to turn his laugh into a coughing fit.  Miranda was nothing at all like he''d imagined.  Fortunately, that was good. He was sick and tired of all the girls with fancy clothes and empty heads that were only interested in him because of his money, or weren''t interested at all but were after him because their parents sicced them on him like a foxhound after a fox.


    This girl was completely different.  It was evident that if she were truly relaxed, she''d be cussing up a storm.


    Fortunately it was also evident that she was quite able to speak formally at a "society" function if she had to, which probably meant that in her normal life she just didn''t give a damn.


    Once it was clear that Anna and his brother Richard were making a match of it, Anna had teased him by suggesting that he pursue her younger sister.  She SAID it was because she found the idea of a double wedding amusing.  That''s when Dick had chimed in and said that it would cost a lot less that way too.


    After that they''d glanced at each other and doubled over laughing.


    Robert hadn''t been fooled for a second.  Both of them had been serious.  He suspected that Anna''s relationship with Miranda was in truth almost that of a twin, no matter that they were nearly five years apart in age.  That could easily explain why she wanted him to marry Miranda.  They''d be able to see each other frequently if it worked out that way.  If they married men from different families, who knew how often they''d be able to meet?  He wondered idly if maybe they''d been meant to BE twins but something had happened to prevent it.


    Heh.  Not that there was any way to find out for sure.  It probably didn''t matter.  He wasn''t about to marry someone just because their older siblings thought it would be a good idea.  Much as he hated to do it, he had to admit that, even with the little he''d seen of her real self today, she was at the very least intriguing.  The question in his mind was simple.  Was she intriguing enough that he''d enjoy being with her for the rest of his life?


    Was he in love with her?  Absolutely not!  She did tick a few of his boxes though.  Unlike the vast majority of men, he rather enjoyed being with a woman who was taller than he was.  Her dark skin with that cap of curly black hair was quite exotic too, especially when you included the streak of silver at her hairline on the left.


    The way she was dressed said a lot about her too.  He didn''t know the numbers, but the profits from Journey''s End would easily have allowed her to buy anything she wanted.  It appeared that what she wanted was stylish without being ostentatious.  The cut of her clothes was a bit unusual, but they matched her tall frame in a way that ordinary clothing wouldn''t.


    Again, she could have been wearing one or even many pieces of exquisite jewelry, even if they were just loans from her parents in order to advertise their shop.  Instead she had a thin, gold-chain necklace with an amethyst pendant, and two simple loop earrings.


    His musing was interrupted by her rasping, "My God!  Can''t they get this thing started at least somewhere near the appointed time?  I presumed that the entire purpose of this was predicated on the  idea of getting things better organized, not to increase the entropy of The City."


    Robert was shocked.  Her vocabulary just then was far better than most people he knew.  His eyes narrowed as he contemplated the idea that her rough, younger-sounding self might be just as much of an act as what he''d seen at the parties.


    All of a sudden a mischievous side of himself that he hadn''t been aware of, or at least had never admitted to - even to himself - jumped out and took control.


    He took Miranda by the elbow and steered her to the front of the hall.  As they moved forward he whispered out the side of his mouth, "Since they won''t get the party started, what say we start the ball rolling. Maybe if we organize the organization meeting, something useful will get done."


    Manda had been about to blurt out something, you know, like: "What the hell are you doing?"  Or maybe, "Let go of me you bloody mule!"


    However, that all changed when he started talking about organizing the organizing.  Not only did it tickle her fancy, it appealed to her true self.  By the time they got to the raised dais at the front, she found herself looking forward to...whatever.


    Somehow, by unspoken agreement, they tag-teamed the crowd.


    Robert began by raising his arms and his voice, "Settle down.  Settle down.  We need to get this going if we''re all going to get home in time to get up for work in the morning without being groggy."


    Then Manda followed up, "We''re here tonight to discuss the problem of street-lamps burning out too soon, either just before dawn or, even worse, in the middle of the night when they''re needed most."


    Robert''s turn now.  "Before we make any decisions we''re going to need some records to review."


    Manda called out, "So will those who have the records of how much oil is purchased, what kinds of lamps are being used, how the oil is being allocated, how many lamplighters there are, and what time of day in the various seasons, and under what weather conditions the lamps are used, please come forward and make their presentations?"


    As the various individuals came forth, either Miranda or Robert would pluck their documents out of their hands and read the pertinent information to the crowd, thus circumventing the total stupor those attending would have been in if those providing the information had read their reports in full.


    Once they were finished, there was no doubt that the people responsible were not working together but were rather guessing what the others would need.


    At that point Miranda shouted, "Who here has extremely good handwriting?  If we''re going to make a proper report to Duke Stavros, he needs to be able to read it."


    A young woman of about Miranda and Robert''s age raised her hand and came forward.  "I can do that for you."


    She looked around the room, as if searching for a specific person.  "Do you suppose that  someone can find me a chair, table, pen, ink, and paper?"


    The owner of the hall paled as the girl pulled back her hood of her cloak.  Within three minutes the appropriate items appeared before her, having been hurriedly brought by the owner and three of his staff.


    "Will this suffice La..."


    He was quickly cut off.  "Thank you very much.  These will do nicely."


    She turned to a perplexed Miranda and Robert.  Each was thinking the same thing, "Who is this person that the owner of the hall treats her with such deference?"  Both of them knew him, or of him by his reputation. He was known to be absolutely honest but rather prickly.  He''d give you exactly the services you paid for and not a scant thing more.


    Lifting her pen she said, "I''m ready.  Please proceed."


    They shook themselves then began.  Each recited the pertinent points regarding bottlenecks, and their proposals for ameliorating them.  When they finished, they asked their scribe to read them back to the people in the hall, "To make sure that everything has been properly covered."


    Once she had done so, Miranda asked, "Are there any corrections?"


    Robert waited a few seconds then announced, "Thank you for coming and for your participation.  I think that we have begun this series of meetings quite well.  We''ll make sure that this report reaches Duke Stavros."


    Miranda finished with, "We''ll look forward to seeing you next week.  The topic to be discussed then will be how to ensure that street repairs are done properly and in a timely manner so as to cause the least possible interruption of commerce.  Goodnight to you all, and fare you well."


    Robert and Miranda turned to each other, grinned, and shook hands.  Not only were they finished, but they''d managed to get it all done in only an hour.  Boredom successfully prevented!


    That was when Miranda asked, "Ah.  Robert.  Tell me.  How are we going to get the report to the Duke?  I don''t know anyone at The Residence."


    "Oops.  Neither do I.  Do you suppose that anyone is still here who can do it?"


    A voice full of humor came from behind them, "Oh, I think I can take care of that for you."


    They turned around and beheld their scribe.


    "Oh, that''d be real good on ya.  Ya already saved us.  I''m afraid that my writing isn''t all that good.  In fact, it sucks!"


    Robert added, "I agree.  You''ve been a godsend.


    "Oh.  I should introduce myself.  I''m Robert Donetti and my enigmatic companion here is Miranda Do...I mean Kastner.  Might we know your name?"


    "I''m pleased to meet you.  I''m even more pleased that you took over and actually got something done. I was afraid that I''d have to stand around for two or three hours and then report back that nothing of any worth happened, just like all the meetings last year.


    "I''m Henrietta Bulambo."


    Instantly Miranda fell into an elegant curtsey that no princess would be ashamed of.


    Robert likewise bowed impeccably.


    Henrietta''s response was barely controlled laughter.  "You two are a most interesting study in contrasts.  I do believe that I shall make an effort to become better acquainted with both of you, starting right now."


    She grinned up at them.  Way up.  (She had already reached her full height at only 151 cm.)  "Since you came to this meeting in the first place, and since you two have managed to save us all so much time, you must still have at least an hour or two free.  So, here."


    She shoved her notes at Robert who automatically took them.  Then she strode between them and hooked one of her arms through Manda''s right and the other through Robert''s left.


    "Let''s go."


    "Ah, where are we going Lady Henrietta?"


    "Look you, I get way too much of that ''Lady Henrietta'' crap already.  It''s gotten so bad that I feel like gagging when I hear it.  Whenever we''re alone like this from now on, you''re both going to call me ''Dot''.  That''s been my nickname forever.  I''m called that ''cause my second name is Dorothy.


    "As for where we''re going, we''re going up to The Residence.  We need to deliver these notes to my father.  Then the four of us are going to have a good, long chat."


    Miranda and Robert exchanged puzzled glances over Henrietta''s head.  A chat?  About what?


    Henrietta hadn''t seen their exchange and continued merrily, "Thank you for volunteering to work as my agents in The City.  One day, when I''m Duchess, I''m going to need solid advisors my own age.  If we start now, you two will do admirably by then.  Besides I also need a few real friends, instead of people pretending just so they can get something out  of me."


    That statement was met by a moment of stunned silence, followed by an echo from either side of her, "Damn, you sure got that right!"


    The three of them exchanged glances then burst out laughing.  From there they proceeded up the hill to The Residence.


    Miranda never did get around to investigating Richard.  She was far too busy, both with working with Henrietta and with spending the rest of her free time with Robert.


    Anna and Richard did indeed have their desire for a double wedding granted, and, when Miranda''s parents were seen to be smothering giggles instead of tears throughout the reception, all those who noticed wrote it off as due to nerves.

 Story 2 - Flock Together (part 1)

    Thursday December 20 in the Year 723 After the Founding


    "Here''s to the Winter Solstice.  May tomorrow soon be over and the days lengthen again!"  So saying Hiroshi Macklin raised his glass and the rest of the crowd gathered around him followed suit.  Though I supposed a gathering where there are only four other people can hardly be called a crowd.  Well, no matter, Blair, Hibiki, Yoko, and Jason shared the toast with him and sipped their drinks.


    "I don''t care so much about the days getting longer.  What I want is for them ta get warmer!"  Yoko pulled the shawl she was wearing more snugly about her shoulders while the others looked on either sympathetically or with a smile.


    "That''s better.  Now I can at least pretend that I''m warm.  Ya know, there are peoples in the northlands that used ta think that if they didn''t have a big celebration and bigger fires on the day of the solstice that the sun wouldn''t come back again.  There are some things that they did then that weren''t very nice.  Oh, sorry,  I guess that right now isn''t a good time ta go into them."


    Seeing nods all around she continued with, "It''s interesting though.  Everything here in The City is all mixed up.  I mean, Daddy''s and Mrs. Fukui''s families are Buddhist.  Mrs. Donetti''s is Muslim, but Mr. Donetti''s, Mama''s, and Mr. Fukui''s are Christian.  I can''t figure out how everyone keeps anything straight."


    Blair looked a question at Hiroshi.  He nodded, so she answered, "Frankly dear, there aren''t very many of us who worry too much about that.  I mean, all three of them, and the Hindu and Jewish faiths, were founded by great teachers.  If you take away the, oh, I guess you''d call it the legends that have grown up around each of them, what they teach is practically the same thing.  It''s all about behaving ethically and lovingly toward other people.


    "That''s why none of the churches here allow any intolerance.  To tell the truth, calling them "churches" is pretty much wrong when you consider that so many are properly referred to as "temples" or "mosques" or "synagogues," but it''s easier to use one word for all of them, and that''s what was decided for here in The City.  Besides, if you can use a generic term, you won''t be embarrassed like you would be if you accidentally called a mosque a temple, or vice versa."


    Jason nodded more vigorously than the rest.  It was easier for him to deal with things if he could sort them out in his mind before he had to talk about them.


    Biki tilted her head to the side, thinking, "Wait a second Mother.  I''ve heard you say that Mrs. Donetti is your best friend and more than once.  If her family is Muslim, and yours is Christian, how did you two meet in the first place?  I mean people here in The City are pretty tolerant of other''s beliefs, but they still do not hang out together very much if they practice different religions."


    The attention of all the children was pulled away from Blair by a not very well muffled snorting sound coming from Hiroshi.  By the time they had turned their heads, he had both his hands covering his mouth.  He stood quickly, pushing his chair back with his legs, then walked briskly out of the room.  Once he was outside, rapidly receding footsteps could be heard.


    Blair looked after him with a disgusted look and muttered, "Coward."


    When she turned back, she found herself the focus of all three children''s attention.  Realizing that she was well and thoroughly trapped, she composed herself to answer the question, after taking time to smile inwardly at how differently the three of them looked.


    Yoko had the: "Oh boy!  More family history to learn!" look.


    The expression Jason wore was more in the line of: "I have no idea what just happened, and are you going to explain it?"


    Hibiki was Hibiki.  She didn''t care what the stories she heard were as long as they were interesting, and, better yet, embarrassing.


    Today was one of the rare occasions where all three of them would be satisfied at the same time.


    "All right.  I''ll tell you, but ONLY if you promise never, ever, to mention it to Miranda or, well, anyone at all, unless I give you permission first.  Deal?"


    That was followed by three impatient nods.  Blair admired their restraint, to a degree.  None of them said anything out loud, but all three of them might as well be shouting: "Will you get on with it!"  She''d have to work with them on their facial control, but that could happen later.


    She took a deep breath and sighed.  She might as well get it over with.  Besides, now, almost 22 years later, she had to admit that it was incredibly funny.


    At the time though....


    May 16 in the Year 701 After the Founding


    It was a lovely day in late spring.  There''d been a shower the night before, but there was only just enough humidity left to make the air feel fresh.  In other words, the rest of the day promised to be fabulous.


    Blair Macklin had always been an outgoing, fun-loving girl though now, at 18, she was beginning to be distracted by a vague urge to "grow up," whatever that meant.  It wasn''t any pressure from her parents.  Far from it.  She''d occasionally heard them bragging to their friends about how they loved they way she refused to take life too seriously.


    That left the question as to why she felt like she did.  As she tried to wrap her mind around it, she wasn''t paying quite as much attention to where she was as perhaps she should have been.  When she finally realized that the way to her boyfriend Hiroshi Tsukimine''s house should have been uphill rather than down, she was fairly deep in a part of town that a young woman of her age was ill advised to tread while alone.


    She reasoned that running might draw a great deal of unwanted attention, so she turned around and set off at a brisk pace, as one might if one were on an important errand.  At least that''s what she intended to do.  She managed a few paces, and had reached a crossroads of sorts, more like where a wider than normal alley crossed the narrow road she was on, when a tall, slim body clad all in white came flying backwards at her from the side.


    Fortunately Hiroshi had been teaching her this thing he called "karate."  She hadn''t learned much yet, but she had learned how to brace herself against an unexpected impact, and that''s what she did.  Consequently neither of them fell down, though it was a near thing.


    Following the young woman out of the alley, for that''s what she seemed to  be in spite of a streak of silver hair at her brow, was a mismatched group of what Blair could only call "ruffians."  They were dressed in various kinds of clothes and footwear, though one and all had hair that made the word "bedhead" seem like praise.


    The one in front was shorter and wider than the rest, but he was clearly their leader.  "Now you look here girlie, I don'' care who ya are or what ya know!  When you''re in my part ''a town you does things my way, or else.  And my way says that ya gots to pay a toll ta use mah streets."


    Although she was alone, what with Blair being almost completely shielded by her body, she seemed not to be intimidated in the least.  "Oh?  Nowadays your kind are calling it a ''toll''.  I see.  I thank you for the instruction.  And here I thought that the proper word to describe it was ''extortion''.  Times certainly do change, don''t they?"


    "Ex..what?  Well never you mind.  Either ya pay up in cash or..." Here he leered at her, or at least he tried.  In truth, it looked more like he was having gas pains.  "Or you can pay us with yer body."


    In spite of her bravado, Blair could feel the sudden tension in the other girl.  She''d revised her estimate of her age downward substantially when she''d spoken.  She took a chance and peeked out from behind her back.  How interesting.  These young men were standing like they''d been set up for tenpins, and they were only about a meter and a half away.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Inspiration hit her, which resulted in her acting before she could even think about thinking about it.  One other thing Hiroshi had taught her was about keeping one''s balance, and how one could upset someone else''s.


    She grabbed the other girl''s left, upper arm as tightly as she could and then took one rapid step forward, after which she put all her strength into a jump straight at the leader.  She extended both her legs and hit him right in the center of his upper chest, after which she pulled back on the arm she was holding and swung her legs down to the pavement.


    She shifted her grip lower on the other girl''s arm, spun toward the north and yelled, "RUN!"


    As the two of them darted up the street she dared a quick glance behind them.  Sure enough, all five of the bullies were on the ground, cussing up a storm as they tried to untangle themselves.  Blair figured that they had only moments before they were pursued.  She yelled, "Faster!," then redoubled her efforts.


    By then she wasn''t pulling any more.  The other girl had taken her hand and, surprisingly, was easily keeping up with Blair, something that very few people could do.  It was a good thing that she could, for Blair heard the sound of rapid footsteps behind them.


    She led them on a zig-zag path, hoping to lose their pursuers, but they were having no luck.  They were heading west at the time, so at the next intersection she planned to head uphill again, hoping that they''d find themselves in a safer part of town before they were caught.


    They skidded around the corner, and, before they could notice the obstruction, tripped and fell into a large container of what seemed to be mud.


    (No it wasn''t mud.  It was something much more insidious, as least as far as the girls were concerned.  What they''d fallen into was a container that was just over a meter and a half wide, two and a half meters long, but only 20 cm deep.  It was filled almost to the top with a mixture of water, clay, and a moderate amount of cement.


    Not every house in The City was made of stone.  Some, especially in this neighborhood, were brick.  Brick structures don''t hold up well against either earthquakes or the repeated sonic impacts from the bespelled bells that rang on Festa days, even if the walls were three quarters of a meter thick.  Consequently they were coated with this particular mixture.  It worked very much like glue applied from the outside.  It stabilized the walls, it was cheap, and it could be reapplied quickly at need.)


    The uses of the concoction were not what the girls were thinking of.  They were frantically pushing themselves up far enough that they could clear their noses and mouths so they could breathe, and, hopefully, get moving again before their pursuers caught up with them.  They were, however, much too slow.


    "Hah!  We gots ya now, and yer gonna to do ''xactly what we wants for as long as we wants.  I think we''s gonna sell you ta whoever wants ya when we''re finished with ya.  Won''t matter any more then. Nobody else would want a ''ruined'' woman.  You''d a been better off iffen  you''d paid tha toll."


    In the silence that followed, broken only by the sounds of panting made by their pursuers and a sucking noise as the girls continued their efforts to get out of the trough, a deep woman''s voice made itself heard.  "Well whadda ya know!  They''ve saved us the trouble of having to search for them.  It''s our lucky day, isn''t it Corporal?


    A masculine voice replied, "I do believe you''re right Private.  Not only for us, but for these two ladies as well.


    "Take them!"


    Blair and Miranda....


    (Well who else could she have been but Miranda?  Weren''t you paying attention when I described her?)


    Blair and Miranda as of yet couldn''t see anything, but they heard the sounds of a scuffle and fists making contact with bodies.  Afterwards there was some moaning.  When they finally had their eyes cleared they turned as one and beheld a full squad of the Guard standing over their five pursuers, all of whom had been securely trussed.


    The Guard sergeant was a tall man, almost two meters in height and was, probably, only slightly older than Blair and Miranda.  He towered over the prisoners, whose leader was glaring back at him in spite of being on his knees and tied like a pig at market.


    "You know what Scavo?  We were only going to arrest you on suspicion of theft.  You might even have talked your way out of it.  This time though...."


    He shook his head in disgust.  "I don''t think it''s going to go easy for you.  All eight of us heard what you said to these ladies.  Therefore I''m not only arresting you for suspicion of burglary but attempted extortion, assault, rape, prostitution, and slavery."


    The corporal nodded several times.  "Nope, not a good day for you at all.  My testimony as a corporal of the Guard alone is enough to convict you, but you just had to do it in front of seven other members of the Guard and all these other good citizens as well.


    "It looks to me like the lot of you will be spending the next eight to 12 years working on the road gangs.  Either that or learning to use an oar on one of the King''s coastal galleys."


    He dusted off his hands.  "Well, let''s get going.  Get them up and moving.  While we''re at it, we can escort you ladies to...where?"


    All the workmen who had thus far had their attention fixated on the arrests now turned to Blair and Miranda.  Guffaws, shrieks of laughter, and other sounds of extreme mirth accompanied their gaze.  The girls were covered from the top of their heads to their toes in the concoction they''d fallen into.


    Corporal Murray distracted the girl''s glares by saying, "You know, if that dries in your hair, you''ll probably have to cut it off to get it out.  Is there somewhere fairly nearby you can go to get it washed?"


    Both of them unconsciously raised their hands to their heads and shrieked, "OH MY GOD!"


    Blair did some fast thinking.  "Corporal, are we anywhere near the intersection of Broad and Niche streets?"


    He answered, "As luck would have it, we''re only about 300 meters away, and it''s on our way.  Is there a particular house?"


    "Yes, if you please Corporal.  It''s the Tsukimine residence."


    "Well now!  I know it well.  Let''s be off before you harden.  Besides your hair, it''ll be very difficult to walk if you can''t bend your joints."


    It really wasn''t very nice of him, but he wanted to distract them from thinking about what could have happened to them if the Guard hadn''t been there when they''d fallen.


    The procession drew a great deal of attention.  In this part of town a group of guards escorting someone they''d just arrested, while not common, was certainly not rare either.  What was rarer than hen''s teeth was the sight of two walking statues in their midst.


    -----------------------------------------


    After an eternity that was really little more than five minutes, Blair knocked at Hiroshi''s door.  It was answered by Hiroshi himself, who had been worried about Blair being so late.


    (I have to give him credit.  He didn''t so much as twitch when he saw them.)


    Blair said one word, "Help."


    Hiroshi spun around and, without a word led them to the largest bathing room and opened the door.  As they entered, he followed.


    "Hirosho, what do you think you''re doing?  We need to bathe.  We certainly don''t want a man here with us!"


    Miranda, who had still not spoken a word, had a very serious expression as she nodded her agreement.


    "You silly girl.  Girls.  You''re still fully clothed.  At least I assume that you weren''t wrestling naked in the mud.  If one of you washes the hair of the other, that one is going to have to shave her head because the mixture will set by the time she''s finished and you can trade off.


    "I, on the other hand, can take care of washing it out for both of you.  Once I''m finished, I''ll leave and the two of you can take care of the rest."


    Through the open door they could hear a feminine voice, "No, don''t try to wash it out.  It won''t work and it''ll leave a mess.  Just sluice it off.  Since it''s still mostly soft, it should just dissolve away if you use enough water.  Just make sure there aren''t any chunks left.  Then let it dry.  After that you can use a brush to remove what''s left."


    A small woman with her hair in elaborate arrangement entered the room and watched while Hiroshi poured bucket after bucket of water over the girl''s heads.  "Once you''re clean, I do believe that I''m going to enjoy hearing about how this happened."


    Her volume didn''t change, but a steely tone crept into her voice, "And I think you both are going to tell me every single detail."


    Speaking in a normal tone she added, "I''ll have a maid bring you some robes to wear afterwards.  Once you''re dry and in the robes, we can see if your clothing is salvageable."


    She looked Miranda up and down.  "Which I hope it is.  I misdoubt that you''ll be able to wear any of my things.  Fortunately one of my husband''s robes should fit."


    She bowed slightly.  "Now, if you will excuse me."


    Before they could blink, the space she had occupied was empty.


    All the while she was talking, Hiroshi had been working on their hair.  After about 20 minutes he stepped back.  "Well, I don''t think I missed anything significant.  You can check each other after I leave."


    Just before he closed the door he turned his head to look back at them.  "Oh, and do try to get off all the large chunks that are left before you get into the bath.  It might clog the drain if some of them fell in."


    Once the door was firmly closed Blair stood.  "You certainly are a tall one.  Just stay sitting.  I''ll barely be able to reach your buttons if you stand up.  Oh, and by the way, I''m Blair Macklin.  The two you just ''met'' are my almost fiancee Hiroshi Tsukimine and his mother Murasaki.


    "I''m 18 years old.  At first I thought you were much older, what with that silver hair you have, but obviously you''re not."


    "Miranda Kastner.  You may not believe it, but, like you, I''m 18."


    "You''re kidding!  Never mind.  I didn''t say that.  I wonder....  I was born on December 29th in AF 683.  You?"


    Miranda laughed.  Blair noticed that her voice was quite deep, though for one her size it really wasn''t surprising.  "I never believed in coincidences.  I''m not sure I do now, but I was born on November 23rd...in AF 683."


    They looked at each other in silence for a good 10 seconds or more, then broke out laughing.

 Story 2 - Flock Together (part 2)

    Blair was the first to calm down enough to speak around the chuckles that kept trying to sneak out of her mouth, "Oh, my.  I haven''t laughed so much in, well, I don''t know how long.  If I were the suspicious type...  No, that doesn''t work, I AM the suspicious type.  Anyway, if I didn''t know better I''d say that someone somehow set this up."


    In answer to the question on Miranda''s face she continued, "Oh, you know.  Us being born barely more than a month apart.  Meeting ''accidentally'' like that.  Even falling into that...whatever it was.  If it weren''t for that, we''d probably have said goodbye right after we knew we were safe."


    Miranda nodded.  "I see.  You''re probably right about that.


    "Heh.  We sure don''t look anything alike, but we do seem to think along the same lines.  I''m probably just as suspicious of things as you are.  But arranging something like this....


    "I mean just imagine how split second the timing would have had to be.  If I''d been pushed out of that alley even one second sooner or later you wouldn''t have been in a position where you could have caught me, and, by the way, you''re a lot stronger than you look.


    "Anyway, if there actually were someone who could arrange all that, I think I''d like to meet them.  What about you?"


    "Well Manda, ah, do you mind me calling you that?  It seems to fit somehow."


    "To tell the truth Blair, I don''t, since that''s what my family calls me.  Normally I don''t like anyone else using my nickname, but it feels right somehow.  So, please go ahead.  You were saying?"


    "Oh. Yeah.  I do agree with you.  If someone could set this all up, I''d definitely like to meet them.  Maybe I could learn something useful about scheming."


    They both chuckled.  By then they''d finished getting all the readily accessible clumps of the "stuff" off of themselves and had stepped into the bath.


    They settled in and did the usual.  You know.  "Ah, that feels so good!"  "Yeah, really, it''s great."  Stuff like that.


    After they''d soaked companionably for a while Blair suddenly got an extremely mischievous look on her face.


    Seeing it, Miranda raised an inquiring eyebrow.


    Blair winked back at Manda to let her know that what she was about to say was a joke, "OK you, whoever you are.  You set us up, so come on out and tell us why."


    Both of them almost laughed again at Blair having said something so outrageous.  They didn''t quite manage though as they were interrupted by a high soprano voice saying, "I thought you''d never ask.  You two are as slow as someone coated in that cement I had you fall into."


    Neither of the girls moved. They didn''t have to.  They''d seated themselves at the long ends of the bath so they could stretch out their legs without hitting each other.  They couldn''t see each other any longer as a small woman who was glowing faintly with a bluish color was hovering between them, just above the water .


    She looked back and forth from the two and muttered, "This will never do. I''ll get a crick in my neck from having to turn back and forth to talk to you, but that''s easily fixed."


    She waved a negligent hand.  There was a very brief flash of light after which Miranda and Blair found themselves sitting side-by-side at one end of a bath that was now about 60 centimeters wider than it had been when they''d sat down.


    The woman turned to face them.  "Ah that''s much better.  Uh... If you don''t mind.  May I join you?  I haven''t had a good soak in a very long time."


    Both of them nodded dumbly, too shocked to say anything yet.


    A moment later the lady''s clothes were lying, neatly folded, on a shelf and she was sitting at the far end of the bath with water up to her chin.


    "Oh my.  That feels just as good as I''d hoped.  Thank you for letting me join you."


    Manda recovered first.  "Now just you wait a minute.  Ya said that ya made us fall into that ''cement'' stuff, and all the rest.  Ya didn''t ask us permission for any of all that.  So why''d ya ask if ya could join us just now?"


    The lady peered intently at both of them and was met by total cluelessness.


    She answered petulantly, "Really.  And here I thought you two had at least a modicum of intelligence."


    She held up a hand.  "No, don''t answer.  That wasn''t a question."


    Sighing deeply she said, "Oh all right, I''ll just tell you, but ONLY if you promise to at least TRY to reason things out before you ask questions in the future. All right?"


    They both nodded, and there was a bit of a spark in their eyes now.  Good, she''d irritated them enough that they were thinking again.


    "What happened to you in town happened much too fast for me to ask permission.  What do you think Blair would have done if I''d asked her, ''May I have your permission to make you walk the wrong way so you can save another girl from a violent gang and then be chased half way across The City not knowing whether or not you''d live through the experience?''"


    Seeing two faces make an "Oh..." she continued.


    "What it comes down to is that the first situation was a matter of necessity.  You''d never ask a child about to fall out of a high window if they''d give you permission to save them.  You''d just do it.


    "But, here in the bath, there was ample time for me to behave in a civilized manner and ask properly for permission to join you.  I trust that you both see the difference?"


    Both nodded.  Blair opened her mouth to say, or ask, something, several times, but each time she closed it again.


    The lady nodded.  Very good.  "Now, I have some things to tell you that will make your lives much easier over the next year or so.  Turn on those memories you are both so proud of.  If you forget any of it, I''m likely to be quite wroth with you.  It''s unlikely that you''d like that."


    Both made their heads do a vigorous "no."


    "Very good.  Here we go.


    "Blair, that Hiroshi of yours is hiding things from you.  No, don''t look like that, it''s not in a bad way.  It''s that he''s involved in some very hush-hush things that involve Corporal Murray of the Duke''s Guard (he''s the one who rescued you today by the way) and Henrietta the Duke''s daughter."


    Turning her attention to Miranda, she continued, "That''s right dear.  You and Robert aren''t the only ones she has her hooks into.  Robert knows about it, though he thinks that what they''re doing is just the preliminary work for setting up a new bank that Henrietta wants to invest her private funds in once she reaches her majority."


    She laughed.  "I certainly can''t fault her for that.  It is part of The City''s official motto of ''Loyalty, Honesty, Frugality, Profit''.


    "That''s going to take about two or three years.  Robert is going to need to be at least 21 when it opens.  Otherwise nobody is going to believe that he''s the senior partner of a bank, even a small new one.  Having Richard as a backer will be fairly important too.  He''ll be 25 or 26 by then and can be made up to look suitably mature.  As the Donetti''s are one of the richest families in The City, it will give credence to the bank."


    Turning to Blair she pretended to whisper, "Miranda wasn''t going to tell you, but she''s head-over-heels for Robert Donetti.  I have it on good authority that they''re going to be married soon and Hiroshi will stand for him at the time.  Hiroshi is going to ask Robert to do the same for him.  It''s more complicated than that, but Miranda knows the rest so she can tell you later.


    "You both should act surprised when they tell you about it, and all the rest of what they''re plotting to dribble out to you over the next few months.  It''d spoil all their fun if you already knew, not to mention that they''d go crazy trying to figure out who leaked the information.


    She mock whispered, "Blair dear, don''t be too surprised when Miranda hauls you off to meet Henrietta as soon as you''re finished here for today."


    She laughed, a short, tinkling sound.  "Yes Manda, when you think that hard, I can hear it if I concentrate."


    She turned back to Blair.  "She''s just realized that someone as fast thinking and fast acting as you would be a substantial asset for Henrietta.  She hadn''t figured out how to ask you yet, but you really don''t have time to waste in getting that started, so I figured I''d save you some.  You do have time to finish getting cleaned up and explain things to Hiroshi''s mother before you head up to The Residence.


    She giggled.


    "In truth, that''s not optional.  Murasaki is one of the most persistent people I''ve ever met.  There''s no way you''re getting out of here until she''s satisfied.  You''re going to have to figure out just how much it''s safe to tell her without leaving any hints that she''ll try to follow."Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    She clapped her hands together and bounced a bit in the tub.  "I wish I could watch.


    "Now then...oh, yes.  I suppose I should also tell you that Henrietta and I are acquainted so feel free to tell her privately what we''ve just discussed."


    Looking at the two, she saw that they were somewhat stunned but still capable of thinking.  Good.  There really wasn''t a lot of time.  Things that weren''t going to happen for a decade or more had to be set in motion today and not tomorrow or the day after.


    "One last thing, and it''s an important last thing, so listen very carefully.  You must NOT tell Robert what''s going on once you two, Hiroshi, Henrietta, and Corporal Murray start working together.  It''s very important that all of his attention be on growing the bank."


    Her tone became even more serious, "I promise you, and I ALWAYS keep my promises, that if you haven''t figured out the reason why in 20 years or so, I''ll come back and explain it to you."


    Suddenly she grinned like a street urchin who had just been given a cake from Fukui''s.  "Consider it your homework.  You both need to sharpen your reasoning abilities, especially you Miranda.  You tend to be a bit sloppy when it comes to thinking things out all the way.  That needs to stop.  Someday someone''s life may depend on you following the clues all the way to the end rather than settling for part way and guessing what the rest will be."


    She stood and stretched.  "My that soak felt so GOOD!  Thank you for allowing me to share the bath with you.  You''re much more polite than quite a few of those I''ve worked with in The City these past 700 odd years.


    "It''s been a nice break, but there are things to do and people to see you know.  Bye."


    The room was almost perfectly silent for several minutes while they thought about what had just happened.  Eventually they realized that there really wasn''t anything they could say that would be of any worth.  Another trait they shared was an abhorrence of small talk.  They would talk though, probably a great deal, and also probably many times,  once they''d thought about everything they''d just been told and figured out where to start.


    They stood and dried off.  When they turned toward the door, they saw their clothes.  They were perfectly clean, dry, and pressed.


    Manda whispered, "I see.  I guess it''s the least she could do seeing as she''s the one who got them so filthy in the first place."


    Blair nodded in agreement.  They helped each other dress and do their hair then headed out the door hand-in-hand.  First things first.  They had to brave the living inquisition that was Hiroshi''s mother.  If they didn''t watch each other''s backs, dealing with such an incredibly formidable woman would likely be painfully difficult.   After that, explaining things to Henrietta would be a piece of cake.


    "Well that about covers it."  Blair raised her head, no longer entirely lost in the memory, to find three faces focused on her with laser-like intensity.


    The trio had a rapid conversation in "twin" and decided that Yoko was the one most likely to get away with asking, so she broke in on Blair''s reverie.


    "Who in blue blazes was that little woman?  How did she just float in the air like that?  What do ya mean she fixed it so you and Mrs. Donetti would meet in the first place?  AND ya made it sound like she also arranged for you two to be born at the same time.  Not to mention that she said she''s been working with people here in The City for SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS!


    "So, NO, it definitely does NOT about cover it!"


    Blair facepalmed before she could stop herself.  In her mind there were echoes of gales of  laughter that sounded like a donkey braying, if said donkey were a soprano.  Like Miranda had when she''d accidentally mentioned Lady Blue to Eugenia, she also saw a vision of Lady Blue rolling around on the floor while she laughed.


    A small, no, make that a very small part of her mind was quite reasonably informing her that it was probably good to be reminded once in a while that there were people out there whose sense of humor was even more coarse than Biki''s.  The rest of her was exquisitely embarrassed at her slip and furious at Lady Blue''s reaction.


    Unlike Miranda she took a pragmatic approach to dealing with the situation.  Rather than threats, she decided that a semi-supervised introduction was in order.


    "All right. I give up.  You''re going to need to meet eventually, so you might as well come and introduce yourself."


    There was a brief flash of light.  After their eyes adjusted, the children beheld a small, glowing woman who was rolling back and forth on the floor still laughing like a lunatic.  As one they wondered if they could reach the door and escape before she noticed them.


    Hearing the commotion, Hiroshi stuck his head in through the door.   Seeing the cause of it, all he did was shake his head in disgust then withdraw and close the door again.


    Unconsciously mimicking Blair''s earlier comment, Lady Blue stood, stuck her tongue out at the door, and muttered, "Coward."


    She turned to face the children who were now backing away toward a corner of the room, seeing as how she was between them and the door.  "Oh.  Stop that!  I don''t bite."


    Seeing disbelief on all three faces she exclaimed, "Blair!  You tell them.  I''m completely safe, right?"


    Blair shook her head.  That was so wrong on so many levels, still, "It''s all right children.  She''s not going to bite you.  There''s even a slight chance that you may come to like her, IF you''re willing to give yourselves a few decades to accustom yourselves to her rotten personality."


    Lady Blue glared at her.   The children looked at her dubiously.


    "Oh, I know.  Just think of her as like Genie.  None of you got along with her at first, but she''s a good friend now, right?"


    Seeing their nods, she forged ahead, "It''s just likely to take longer.  A lot longer.  But still...."


    She couldn''t take it any longer.   The ferocious frown on Lady Blue''s face was just too precious.  Blair clapped her left hand over her mouth, extended her right arm toward Blue, and slowly shook her index finger back and forth.


    From behind her hand came semi-muffled laughter and, "Got you good.  You deserved it."


    Jason was about to ask what she was talking about, but he was intercepted by the twins.


    "Don''t say a single word Dear."   "There''s no way in the world you can say anything safe in a situation like this."  "She''s right.  Ya don''t want both of them pissed at ya, right?"


    A new voice suddenly intruded on their conversation, "They''re right you know.  Sometimes it''s best not to say anything at all.  It can be even better not to think it either, but that''s extraordinarily difficult, even for me."


    Jason''s reaction surprised everyone in the room.  (Yes, I mean Lady Blue too.  She''s not omniscient.  She just wants people to think that she is.)


    He sprang to his feet and thrust his left arm forward, pointing at Lady Blue.  "You!  You did it.  You''re the reason why twins can speak "twin."  I knew there had to be some external factor involved!"


    He turned to the rest of them and exclaimed triumphantly, "I knew that the water from the spring could never have such variable effects that it would cause so many twins and be able to speed healing AND to make it so twins could speak "twin!"


    "I figured it out!  YAHOO!"


    No longer being able to contain himself, he began bouncing up and down, nearly as high as Yoko did when she was excited.


    The twins and Blair gaped at him, then turned toward Lady Blue who was sputtering, "H..ho...how?  How could you know that?  How?"


    (I''m going to cheat here.  Since the appropriate words didn''t exist in Italian till almost two hundred years in their future, I''m going to condense Jason''s reply, which took several paragraphs, down to a few sentences by using modern terminology.  And you all can wipe those stupid grins off your faces.  I''ll also admit that i''m too lazy to take the time to recite all of what he said.  Besides it would confuse you.  Live with it.)


    Jason continued to bounce, though only on his toes now.  There was an occasional hand flap as well, but nobody paid attention to that any more, at least when they were private.


    "OK.  I''ll try to make it sorta short, though I probably can''t.  Anyway it''s like this.


    "Whenever someone speaks twin, what you ''hear'' is just like the person''s voice.  But, if you listen real close, there''s a background hum, sorta like a carrier wave.  By itself it doesn''t carry any information, but without it a radio can''t work."


    He turned to Lady Blue.  "When you spoke to us in ''twin'' just then I could feel it.  In fact it''s so strong that I could almost see it.  The carrier wave is coming from your body.  And that means that nobody can speak twin without you making it happen.  Or maybe I should say ''letting'' happen."


    He began to stroke his chin, unconsciously mimicking Hiroshi, "I wonder which word fits best.  I suppose...."


    He was interrupted by Hibiki and  Yoko jumping on him and covering his face with kisses.


    "You''re the best."  "What a wonderful discovery!"  "Fantastic!"


    Blair and Lady Blue turned to each other and shrugged their shoulders.  Both of them envied the boundless energy of the children.


    Seeing that the celebration was likely to last for some time, Lady Blue gave a slight cough.


    (Oh, all right, it shook the room like a small earthquake, but it''s more polite to say it the other way.)


    Now that she had everyone''s attention, she said, "Hiroshi Thaddeus Tsukimine!  Quit skulking outside the door. You don''t need any more practice.  In that at least you''re already an expert."


    He flowed through the door and closed it.  "You know, sometimes you''re no fun at all.  Did you ever stop to think that I might enjoy skulking?"


    She put her tiny fists on her hips and glared at him, carefully.  She didn''t want to damage him.


    "That''s irrelevant at the moment.  The others need to know that you know what I''m about to tell them.  And, by the way, this isn''t to go anywhere else.  Not even Miranda or Henrietta are to know.


    "I''m not going to tell you why, but you really don''t need to know, do you?"


    Seeing their parents shaking their heads "no," the children also agreed.  They realized that while they couldn''t tell anyone else about it, there was no restriction on them talking about the ramifications of it, whatever IT was going to turn out to be.


    Blue slipped them a quick, private smile when Hiroshi and Blair were momentarily looking elsewhere then quickly composed her face into a neutral expression.


    "Right.  It''s like this.  Hundreds of years from now, it''s going to be absolutely necessary for certain people who aren''t twins to be able to speak to each other mind-to-mind.  But, in order for that to happen, I''m going to need one special pair of twins to get it all started.  And, if it''s going to go anywhere, there must be a lot of people, and I mean hundreds of thousands, who will need to not just believe, but to already know that such a thing is possible.


    "That''s one of the most important reasons for The City''s existence.  There are a number of other important reasons, but this is one of the top five."


    "I expect that I''ll be meeting and getting to know all of you again then, though I''ll probably be the only one who remembers ''now'', at least at first."


    She held up her hand.  "Before you ask, the answer is yes.  Hiroshi, your Buddhist culture is right, at least in part.  All sentient beings do live many lives in order to explore and learn many things.  All those hundreds of thousands of people I just mentioned who will live in the future will also have lived here in The City at one time or another and will all have either been twins or have known them.


    Hiroshi stood straight and his eyes sparkled.  "I see.  Now it all makes sense.  You''ve told us before that you''re not God.  I''d always thought that you were misleading us, but now I see my error.  You were indeed telling us the truth, but at the same time misdirecting us away from recognizing who you truly are.  You''re a bodhisattva."


    Lady Blue bowed deeply before them.  When she straightened, just for an instant, she let all of them see a tiny bit of her true reality.


    "We shall meet again, in both desperate times and in fair.  From those experiences we all shall grow further toward our goals.  Fare you well children."


    Then she was gone, leaving no indication that she''d ever been present.


    Sometimes when you''ve received a great shock, there''s nothing to be said and what you really need is a hug.  So that''s what they did.

 Story 3 - Absence Makes The City Stronger

    March 29th of The Year 720 After the Founding


    Blair tugged on the corner of the bedspread, smoothing out the final wrinkle.  "Well kids, that just about does it."


    She surveyed the room and nodded her head.  Yes, everything neat and properly placed for when Murasaki put in her next appearance.


    Hibiki and Yoko turned to each other and had a hurried conversation in "twin," after which Biki asked, "Um, Mother, it is not that we mind doing the work, it does not take long after all, but why are we doing this rather than one of the maids?  You have them clean and straighten up when we have guests in any other room.  So why us for this one?"


    Blair finished stowing her cleaning supplies in the bucket she''d brought with them then turned and handed it to Ailin, who had suddenly appeared at the door.  Ailin bowed and, as was her wont, disappeared down the stairs without saying a word.


    Blair turned back to the twins and smiled at them.  "Perhaps you should think of it this way.  Your grandmother won''t be back till this fall, right?  Then she''ll be spending the winter with us, like always.  Think about that for a moment, then I want you to think about this question.  Would you, coming back to your room at an inn, knowing that a maid had cleaned up after you''d left, feel anything in particular?  It''s rather impersonal, isn''t it?


    "But, if you knew that your family had personally put in the effort to make sure that your room was just right, wouldn''t that make you feel welcome when you returned, especially after a long absence?  I admit that it''s a little thing, but it''s little things added up that will let her know that we''ve missed her, and we''re happy to have her return."


    The twins nodded then said, "Oh.  So if we make sure that her favorite incense is burning on the day she returns, and her favorite robe is in the bathroom, that would help too?"


    Blair strode forward and enveloped the girls in a big hug.  "Exactly little ones.  Good for you.  Since you suggested it, I''ll let you deal with that when she returns, and I''ll be sure to let her know that it was your idea."


    The girls grinned up at her then had another rapid conversation.  This time it was Yoko who asked,  "Ah, say Mom, exactly what does grandma do when she''s gone?  This past winter is the first time we''ve thought much about it.  She doesn''t seem ta want ta tell us what she does, ''cause she makes up the craziest stories when we ask her."


    Yoko put up her hands in a "calm down" position, just in case.  "It''s not that we don''t like them.  In fact we love them.  I guess it''s just that we''re getting ta be a bit too old for fairy tales, ya know?"


    Blair returned Yoko''s gaze with a totally neutral expression.  "My.  I''m impressed.  Not even 12 years old yet and you know how to tell what''s real and what''s a fabrication.  Are you perchance offering lessons in how to make such judgements?"


    The room was totally silent for almost half a minute as Yoko processed what her mother had said.  At that point she fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands.  The only signs of her feelings were her suddenly bright red ears.


    Hibiki contrived to look innocent.  She''d almost agreed with her sister, but Blair had spoken before she could begin.  She thought she''d managed to fool their mother, that is until Blair tossed her a slight frown before turning back to Yoko.


    "Listen to me girls.  This is incredibly important.  I want you to engrave it in your minds and never, ever forget it."


    Blair took a deep breath then continued, "Just because something doesn''t make sense to you doesn''t mean that it is wrong or an untruth.  If you ever forget that, someone you care for, or  you yourselves, may come to great harm, or possibly even die because of it."


    She nodded at the girls'' horrified expressions.  "Yes.  I do mean it, and it IS true."


    She hugged them briefly.  "Now getting back to your grandmother''s ''fairy tales''.  I haven''t heard all of what she told you, so I can''t vouch for those.  However, the stories I did hear were entirely true.  In fact, she was most likely, oh, let''s say ''editing'' them so as to leave out the more, um... ''exotic'' parts before she told them to you.


    Holding up a hand to forestall their questions, Blair added, "Frankly, you heard the parts appropriate for children your age.  I heard the ''adult'' version.  What that was, I have no intention of telling you for at least 10 years."


    She looked at them dubiously, heroically restraining her impulse to grin impishly at them.  "Or perhaps longer given what you just said about her."


    The girls had a hurried conversation in "twin" then turned and bowed deeply to their mother.  They''d decided that this one was Hibiki''s.


    "We apologize for our irresponsible speech, and thoughts.  While we know that we are not deserving of such leniency, we implore you to relent and provide us with further details about our grandmother (whom we love dearly) and her activities when she is traveling in the world beyond The City."


    Yoko contrived to look innocent, at least as much as she ever was able, and nodded several time.  "Yeah.  Yeah.  Please."


    This time Blair was unable to hold it in completely and began to chuckle. She was rather proud of herself.  What she wanted to do was roll on the floor laughing, but that would be rather childish of her.  Also it would remind her of a certain meddling being that she''d rather not think about just then.


    "Spoilsport!"


    Blair  could never tell when that one was listening, and her sudden comment, along with the vision of her glaring at her and sticking out her tongue almost caused her to lose it.  How odd.  Even after knowing her for so many years she''d never gotten around to asking her what her true name was.


    "Really girls.  That was a bit, no, a lot too heavy handed.  It was so convoluted that I think I almost choked on it.  Frankly I''m amazed that you managed to throw something that treacly together so quickly."


    Biki grinned back at her.  What she''d originally planned to say had been much more florid.  For now, she''d be grateful that she''d managed to put their mother in a better mood.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Yoko''s turn now.  "Ah.  Anyway, do ya think ya could tell us what Grandma really does when she''s away?  And maybe why she goes in the first place.  Ta be honest, we have no idea."


    Blair nodded.  Perhaps it was time to tell them part of what was going on.  Protecting your children was one thing, but wrapping them in a cocoon and leaving them ignorant was near the top of the Bad Ideas list.


    She nodded.  "Yes.  All right.  We have some time, so now will do.  Sit."


    The twins dropped where they were and sat cross-legged, all their attention on their mother.


    Blair sat on the edge of the bed and smiled down on them.  They had more than a few rough edges yet, but they had years left to polish them.


    "So, first of all some review.  You know of course that everyone in The City eventually manifests a particular talent or ability, right?"


    Seeing nodding, she continued, "It can appear anywhere between six years of age and 17, though there are a very few outliers at either end and it''s usually right around puberty.  Most of the time it isn''t anything particularly useful, such as knowing what the person next to you had for breakfast that day.  Sometimes though it can be rather formidable, useful, or both."


    Seeing puzzled looks she elaborated, "All right.  For instance, if someone can punch a two centimeter hole a foot deep in anything, that''s formidable but something like that is only useful occasionally.  Someone who can punch a two centimeter hole in anything, and exactly control the depth, that''s both formidable and useful.


    "Your Grandmother''s talent is both.  She''s a Foreseer."


    She frowned slightly at seeing the girls opening their mouths to speak.  "One thing you need to work on, if you ever want to be considered as grown-ups is your lack of patience.  What you were just about to do proves that you''re still children."


    Blair hid her inner smile as resentment flashed across the twins'' faces, after which they settled down again.  Grumpily, but they did settle.


    "A Foreseer is someone who can predict what will happen in the future.  Again, it could be almost useless.  For instance if, say, all they could foresee was what year a particular tree in an orchard would die.  Any experienced farmer could give you a reasonably close estimate.


    "However, a Foreseer who could tell you whether or not a ship leaving on a particular date would safely reach port, or what cargo would bring the best price at the ship''s destination, would be extraordinarily useful.


    "And that my dears is what your grandmother does.  She travels from port to port helping ship captains plan their voyages."


    Blair looked at the ceiling with unfocused eyes.  "They pay her quite well for her services."


    She looked at the twins with a conspiratorial expression.  "Don''t tell anyone, but she also frequents certain dockside taverns and pretends to be a fortune teller.  She''s very popular, as she can always tell a sailor which ship is the best one for them to ship out on.


    "What makes her even more popular is that she can, occasionally, tell a sailor when and where he''ll meet the one who will fall in love with him.  She can''t tell them if it will work out in the long run, but you wouldn''t expect that.  What makes a relationship successful is hard work.  Prophecy has no place in that."


    Her look turned serious.  "Now little ones, I''m going to tell you an important secret."


    The twins leaned forward in anticipation.  Their mother had never done something like this before, and they relished the thought of being thought old enough, even if it was just a single secret.


    "Your grandmother is a full partner in your father''s bank.  In fact, she was one of the primary investors when it was founded.  Without her, it might not have been successful.


    "Now, a question. Can you tell me why I told you about this?"


    She grinned at them.  "Feel free to speak to each other in ''twin'' while you work out an answer.  We''re not in public and you''re not being rude if I give you permission."


    As they huddled together she wondered if they''d caught the fact that she''d said "an answer" and not "the answer."  There were several that would be appropriate.


    Somewhat surprisingly, it was Yoko who finally answered her.  "Ya know.  At school, when people are arguing about something, most of the boys tell the girls something like, ''You''re just girls, how could you know anything about it?''  There are a bunch of men like that too. So we think...."


    She glanced at Biki who nodded, then Yoko finished, "So we think that ya told us so we''d know that women can do things just as well, and that are just as important, as things men do.  Well some things we guess.  I mean, I can''t see a woman being a blacksmith.  She wouldn''t be strong enough."


    Blair knelt and hugged the twins.  "That''s a fair start darlings.  Though I can''t give you full points.  No don''t pout at me.  You simply don''t have enough experience for a full answer yet.  Let me give you an example.


    "The smith here in The City who makes the absolute best swords and knives is Jacqueline Ophelia Francesca Segreti.  That''s quite a mouthful so the sign on her shop just says ''Jackie''s Place''.  And before you ask, yes, she''s a noblewoman.  I''m told that ever since she was a girl she''s been interested in smithing and that her parents eventually gave up and let her do what she wanted.


    "I''m also told that at first they almost disowned her.  However, since she''s now famous for her blades in France and Spain as well as Italy, they''ve changed their minds.  Nowadays they brag about her every chance they get."


    She pulled back a bit and looked at the girls intently.  "Which means what?"


    Hibiki''s face lit up almost immediately.  "OH!  Well I think so.  Argh, that makes no sense.  What I mean Mother is that it may mean that a woman has to be even better than a man at what she does if men are to think that she''s any good.  She also needs a ''thick skin'' when she''s becoming proficient at whatever it is she decides to do.  Is that right, maybe?"


    She looked up a Blair hopefully.


    "Indeed you are my dear.  Unfortunately that is true far too often...though things are getting better, especially here.  That''s probably because, what with so many traders in The City from all over the world, if you don''t properly assess the person you''re trading with, you''ll go broke in a heartbeat.


    "Men making that kind of stupid mistake are the reason why Alicia down at the Mule''s Tale owns it and doesn''t just work there.  And, no Yoko, I''m not going to tell you how it happened nor are you to ask.  You just stomp or sit on your curiosity for a few years.  If I find out that you''ve asked her, or anyone else, about how it happened, you won''t like the consequences.  Capice?"


    Seeing a reluctant nod, she stood and brushed herself off.  "All right now. Off you go.  There''s still your homework before you get your baths and get ready for bed.  Shoo!"


    They trotted off, hand in hand.  Once outside the door, they stopped and grinned hugely.  Blair hadn''t forbidden them to talk to each other about Alicia, and they intended to do just that and try to figure out for themselves what might have happened.


    Blair turned and smoothed the spot on the comforter where she''d been sitting.  All-in-all she was well pleased.  She''d planted a seed in the girls'' minds about a woman''s potential and not being constrained by the opinions of others.  She''d also diverted them from thinking about what else their grandmother did besides her Foreseer work.  They were much too young to learn that, as Murasaki travelled from port to port, she received intelligence reports from all across the Mediterranean.


    Anything truly urgent that Mirasaki discovered was routed back to The City by stragetically placed twin pairs.  What she brought back herself kept Blair and Hiroshi busy for much of the winter each year as they sorted it out and made plans for their agents'' missions the next spring.


    It was an interesting relationship.  When she chose, Murasaki was nothing if not intimidating, but she could also be warm and loving and a joy to be with.


    As she followed the girls out of the room and closed the door, she wondered, not for the first time, if part of the reason that Murasaki travelled so much was that she''d go stir crazy if she stayed anywhere more than a few months at a time.  Perhaps Blair would be able to ask her this year when she returned for the winter.


    Hah!  If she had any courage she''d have asked before Murasaki left.  Well, no matter.   Murasaki''s state of mind was a question that she would be unable to examine for seven or eight months no matter how much she might want to know.  For now there were many other things that demanded her attention, and she''d best get back to work.

 Story 4 - Olivias Tale (part 1)

    I suppose that the most delicate way to speak of our birth would be to call it "irregular."  Had my family had less money, my twin sister Livi and I would most likely be referred to by the "lower classes" as "those bastard girls whose mother won''t say who the father is."  The so-called "nobles," who were usually anything but noble, would have fluttered their eyelashes, held a fan in front of their mouths, rolled their eyes heavenward, and referred to us as "one of those."


    Oddly enough I felt a certain affinity with the first group.  They were at least honest.  Vulgar, vicious, stupid, and intolerant, but honest insofar as they''d tell you to your face how they felt about you.  The nobles now, well, the mildest word to describe how I felt about them was "despise."  Or maybe "detest."  (Yes they mean different things, look it up.)


    Once we were old enough to understand why people spoke like that, we were, to say the least, shattered.  Had anyone actually discovered that Livi and I also were "one of those" I don''t know how we would have survived, even with the support of our family.  Yes I know it doesn''t make a lot of sense when I tell it that way.  Let me go back a few years and explain where we came from, then maybe you''ll understand.


    It seems that when our mother was a child she''d have had to climb a hill or two in order to be considered "frail."  Even "sickly" would have been an improvement.  Fortunately her mind worked reasonably well.  It wasn''t like the tales where the weak shut-in has some sort of incredibly brilliant mind and uses it for, well, you get the idea.  No, she was moderately above average in intelligence, but no more than that, which made her totally normal for our family.


    Grandfather Brewster Witherspoon was and probably still is what one could call a "walrus of a man."  He was tall, being 184 cm, but he was also big.  He wasn''t fat, but he was built something like a barrel.  Claimed it was his "English heritage don''t you know."  He also affected a handlebar moustache.  It was a small one as such things go, but with his round face and blondish-red hair it drew more attention than his size and shape did, even here in The City.  I''d told that, on  hot days, he''d huff and puff when going up the hill and would turn the color of a well-cooked lobster.  All the while he''d be sweating heavily and blotting his face with a handkerchief every few seconds.


    If that was all, he''d have been labeled as merely one more among the many "characters" living in The City.  There were hundreds. Some hated, some beloved, and most ignored by almost everyone.


    If you were the single oddball in a village, you were lucky if you were abused only occasionally.  Mostly you were abused all the time.  In The City just about everyone was more interested in making money than in making fun of someone who was different.  Besides it would be pretty hard considering that there wasn''t any particular group that made up more than about 30% of the population.


    So Grandfather Witherspoon would have ordinarily been tolerated or ignored.  Ordinarily.  Like the rest of the family, he wasn''t outstandingly brilliant or anything.   However, at least  as he tells it, it was when he was around 12 that he, and those around him, discovered his talent.


    It had started simply enough.  He was with a group of his friends, and two of them were talking about making money selling something or other at a particular location.  All of a sudden Grandpa interrupted them and said, "Won''t work.  At least not there.  You''ll make a little money if you do it over on Bleek street, just north of The Park.  Not much, and you''ll have to work hard, but you will make a profit."


    The other kids laughed, then set about their original plan.  After they''d lost almost all their money, they shifted over to where Grandpa had told them and earned back all the money they''d lost.  It took them three months, and they worked really hard, but they did make money, just like he''d said.  It wasn''t enough to keep going, so after they reached a break-even point, they quit.


    I''ll tell you one thing about business, and probably anything else that matters.  Kids learn faster than adults.  An adult will want to "save face" and look like they know more than they really do, which is why so many of them go broke doing something that everyone they know has told them is stupid.


    Now kids, they don''t have all that much to begin with, so the idea of losing it hurts, a lot.  Which is probably why, after the incident I mentioned, every single one of them with an idea for making money ran it by Grandpa first.  Sometimes he''d tell them right away if it would work or not.  Sometimes he went away for a hour or a day or even a week before he came back with an answer.  It didn''t take long before all his friends realized that they''d fallen in the cream.


    Sure, they often had to work hard to make a success of whatever it was, but Grandpa''s "seal of approval" gave them the confidence they needed to make a go of it, especially when things got hard.


    About the time Grandpa finished school, he set himself up as a "business consultant."  Within six years, the family went from being tolerably well off to moderately rich, not that anyone would have noticed.


    Grandpa lived and breathed The City''s motto:  "Honesty, Loyalty, Frugality, Profit."  Or so he said when asked what was important to him.  One of the only things I ever found to like about him was that he knew that things sometimes go wrong in spite of your doing everything right.  That''s why he never tried to show off how much money he had.


    The family lived in a pretty big house, but it wasn''t in one of the parts of town that rich people favor.  There were a cook and a maid, which was fairly normal in that neighborhood, but they were treated more like family than most servants were.  At least that''s what Grandfather would have told you.  They themselves?  That''s another story.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    There were a couple of nice paintings and one rather good, though small, sculpture in the house, but nothing that yelled "we''re rich" to anyone who came inside.


    Now let''s get back to us, or how we were started.  Somehow my mother, to everyone''s surprise and apparent delight, managed to live into her adolescence.  At first everyone was terrified that she''d have some sort of bleeding problem like aunt Darci had when her monthly started, but, thankfully, she was completely normal in that regard.


    Otherwise, not so much.  She''d been too weak to go to school, so Grandma Beth had tutored her as best she could.  Apparently she wasn''t all that good a teacher, but, once Mama learned how to read, she took care of the rest by herself.  She couldn''t do much besides read, so after she''d finished all the children''s books in the family library, and all the others in the house, Grandma''s primary "teaching" job had been to fetch more books home from one of the libraries in The City.


    Mama was about 18 and five months when everyone learned just how much Grandpa believed the city motto.  Specifically the part about "loyalty."  Mama''s monthlys stopped.  The family assumed that it was because of her health, but after four months the real cause declared itself.  It was especially noticeable given how skinny she was.


    Grandpa was occasionally a somewhat considerate man, something you wouldn''t expect from someone with his size and looks.  When there was no doubt about the fact that Mama was expecting, he asked her who the father was.  I''m told that she opened her mouth to answer, but no words came out.  The funny thing was that she could talk about anything else, but when she tried to answer that particular question, her voice would trail off and she would become totally unable to speak.


    All this left the family with even more questions.  Mostly it was variations on the same one, "How could a man possibly have gotten into the house much less into her room."  Her room did have a large window, but it was built into the wall, and the three panes were each separated from the others by four centimeters.  (Pretty much average for The City.)


    Her room was at the very back of the house on the second floor.  Any man would have had to pass every other bedroom to get to it.  When you add to that the fact that even most of the family friends had never met Mama, and a goodly number didn''t even know that she existed, the questions just multiplied.


    Finally Grandpa gave up.  He said that the important thing was Mama''s health, or lack thereof.  Even he knew that her chance of survival wasn''t all that good, and he didn''t want her death reflecting badly upon him.  That was probably the reason that, when Aunt Darci mentioned having Mama seen by the doctor who had cured her bleeding problem, Grandpa jumped on board with the idea immediately.  Well...at least after Aunt Darci assured him that the doctor wouldn''t charge him very much.


    The next day is written prominently in Grandpa''s diary, all in bold letters.  To be precise, it was the last entry he ever made.  (Yes I read it when I found it years later, and no I probably shouldn''t have, but we''re not going to discuss it now, and probably not later either.)


    It was May 9th in The Year 728 After the Founding.  At 9:15 in the morning Aunt Darci''s physician, a Dr. Kaho Fukui appeared at our door.   After the introductions, which Dr. Fukui responded to by nodding and not saying a single word, she was taken up to Mama''s room.  After motioning Aunt Darci into the room with her, she shut the door leaving everyone else standing in the hall.


    The general consensus was that this was a very rude young woman, but she had cured Darci, so they''d give her a chance.  Time passed, and then some more time.  By then everyone had gone back to whatever it was they''d been doing when the doctor arrived.


    However they all came running back as a noise like a thunderclap sounded from the general vicinity of Mama''s room.  What they found was the pieces of the door to her room lying on the floor, the doorframe splintered, and a totally enraged being standing in the doorway.


    Her mouth was working but nobody could understand what she was saying, though the cook, who could read lips (her hearing wasn''t all that good due to a childhood illness) turned pale and ran back down to the kitchen with her hands over her ears.


    By then Dr. Fukui was speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear, but what they heard wasn''t very, let''s call it "palatable" shall we?


    "You flaming, stupid, asinine, idiotic, numbskulled, shit-for-brains, FOOLS!  How could you?  How could you abuse your daughter like this for so many years.  Did your brains all dribble out your noses and onto the floor a decade ago?"


    She advanced on Grandfather and kept going, "And you!  Oh great business consultant.  If you''re smart enough to do that, why the heck didn''t you put at least part of that mind (and I use the term loosely) into figuring out what to do for your daughter?  Doesn''t she mean anything to you?"


    She spun around.  "Then there''s you Darci.  You of all people should know what it''s like to be sick all the time.  Why in the world did you never think to bring her to me four years ago after we took care of your problem?"


    The doctor held up her hand to forestall an answer.  "Don''t say anything.  No matter what you say, it will be wrong, and I don''t want to find myself undoing what I fixed.  I really want to kill you all right now.  I might even seriously consider doing it except it would look bad for a physician to murder a former patient and her family."


    She spun around again and continued, "As for the rest of you so-called adults....  Bah!  I''m wasting my time."


    Suddenly she calmed down, seemingly at least.  She closed her eyes, bowed her head slightly, then said in a quiet voice, "Mimi, Sven.  I need you and a carriage, immediately.  It''s urgent."


    After that she just stood there, with her feet apart, her arms crossed on her chest, and an incendiary look on her face.  Nobody said anything.  For that matter, nobody dared move at all.  After several minutes Grandpa opened his mouth to say something or other, but he was interrupted by a knocking on the door, followed  by the sound of it opening and feet coming up the stairs.


    A young woman dressed as a maid appeared and bowed slightly to everyone and no one in particular.  Dr. Fukui pointed her chin at the room behind her.  Mimi made her way past the family and shortly emerged with Mama in her arms.  She squeezed past everyone, followed by Dr. Fukui who turned her head and spoke over her shoulder.


    "We''re going to see Dr. Kastner.  Darci, you show your parents the way, but not till late morning tomorrow.  We''re going to be busy all day, and probably part of the night.  Besides, if I''m tired enough the next time I see you, I might just let you all live."

 Story 4 - Olivias Tale (part 2)

    When they arrived at Dr. Kastner''s, Kaho turned to Mimi, "Please ask Jason and the twins to come as soon as they can get free from their current client.  I''ll be needing Ailin too please.  There''s no way I can handle this on my own."


    Mimi nodded, and slipped onto the driver''s seat as Sven picked Mama up and followed Kaho inside.  Dr. Kastner was chatting with someone in the front room.  Sven kept walking toward the treatment rooms in the back.  Kaho, who was still scowling, spoke in a low voice, "Very difficult case.  Others will come to help."  Then she followed Sven into the rear of the building.


    Sven had already laid Mama on a table in one of the small treatment rooms that, besides the table, held only a pool that was designed to hold two people.  Kaho bowed and murmured, "Once again I thank you for your help and willingness to take time from  your studies."


    Sven shrugged his shoulders.  Then he hit her with a "sometimes you can be incredibly silly" expression, and patted her gently on the head, after which he nodded and exited the room.  While she waited for the others, Kaho helped Mama out of her clothes and did a more thorough examination.  When she finished she sighed.  It was going to be difficult, but not nearly as much as healing Mario had been.  At least this one didn''t have an infection on top of everything else.


    What her underlying problem was still wasn''t clear, but what she could already see needed doing was more than enough for the first session anyway.


    (While we''re waiting for Ailin, Jason, Hibiki, and Yoko, I supposed I should answer the question you haven''t asked yet.  Which is: "How is it that you know what happened prior to your birth?"


    The answer is: She was going to be our mother.  We had a vested interest in her not only surviving, but being healthy enough to handle us while we were children.  Not to mention that we loved her and hated to see her in pain.


    So, yes, we were watching everything and had been ever since we were certain that we weren''t going to be miscarried.)


    Time passed, everyone arrived, with Jason entering last, making sure that the door was firmly latched.  They didn''t want anyone seeing what was about to happen.  They all took the same positions as they had when Kaho had healed Mario, only this time she had her hands positioned differently.  Mama''s legs weren''t the main problem at the moment.  Kaho put her right hand over Mama''s pubic bone, and the left she cupped over Mama''s throat.


    They did cover Mama''s face with a damp towel though, telling her to keep her eyes closed and that breathing the moisture from the spring would help heal her lungs.


    This made the sixth time they''d done a joint healing, so Kaho said nothing before she began, knowing that the others would feed her however much energy she needed.  This time Mimi and Ailin even managed to keep their human forms throughout the process.


    When they were finished, Jason, Mimi, and Ailin slipped out of the room before Kaho took the towel off Mama''s face.  "Ah, look, it''s embarrassing, but I don''t know your name."


    Mama smiled and whispered back, "It''s Mei.  I know.  It sounds odd me being Mei Witherspoon, but mother said that she loved the name, so here I am."


    Kaho replied, "One of the meanings of Mei is ''bright''.  It certainly matches that lovely honey-blonde hair you have."


    Then more briskly, "I know that you''re feeling better, but you have a long way to go, both for yourself and for your baby.  It felt like twins at first, but it''s definitely a singleton.  Anyway, let''s get you into the pool to soak.  Yoko and Hibiki will be joining you.  They need regular soaks to make sure that their babies are healthy too, so they can help themselves while they help you keep your head above water."


    Mama looked confused.  "Soaking helps a baby?"


    Kaho nearly blew up again.  Hadn''t Mei''s parents told her anything at all about what the waters of the spring could do?


    "Ah.  Yes.  Soaking in the water from the spring in the center of town can significantly increase the chance of a healthy pregnancy and also helps with curing wounds and sickness.  It won''t do the whole job, but it helps...a lot. Which is why I was so upset with your parents.  If they''d had you soaking twice a day starting when you were a baby, you''d be a lot healthier."


    Kaho shook her hands as if there were water droplets on them.  "But that''s a discussion for later.  Right now I want the three of you in the pool there.  I know it''s made for two, but that assumed two burly men.  With all three of you on the small side, you should fit just fine, even with both of them being pregnant too.


    She looked directly at Mama.  "You''re still not strong enough to sit up by yourself without falling over once your muscles relax, so we''ll have one of them on each side of you.  I''ll be back in half an hour.  We don''t want to overdo it the first time."


    With that she whisked herself out of the room, leaving the twins to get themselves undressed and then to help Mama into the pool.


    (Just for completeness'' sake, I guess I should mention that this Yoko person was six months along and Hibiki was at three months.  Once we were born and had gotten to know the family, we heard Yoko say once, when she didn''t know we were listening, that "Biki may have won on our wedding night, but I won the rock-paper-scissors when we matched to see which of us would be the first to get pregnant.")


    After Yoko and Hibiki helped Mama into the pool, they settled down on either side of her and Yoko took her hands.


    "As usual Kaho left just a little bit out, seeing as how she didn''t introduce us.  I''m Yoko Fukui, and that''s my sister Hibiki on your other side.  Our husband Jason is probably sitting out front with Dr. Kastner and Kaho, ah...right...Dr. Kaho Fukui.  She''s Jason''s older sister."


    Mama just sat there for a minute then, "Oh, I see.  I didn''t know that you could marry two people.  Do most people do that?"


    Hibiki muffled a snicker.  They hadn''t been told anything at all about Mama.  They''d just rushed over when Kaho''s message had reached them.


    "Be quiet Biki.  Let''s start this gentle-like.  I don''t think she knows anything much about anything."


    "Right with you  Yoko.  I was not going to say anything rude or condescending, and I shall not."


    "Uh, Mei.  Kaho didn''t tell us much about you.  Am I right if I guess that you''ve not been well enough to go outside, maybe for a long time?"


    Mama sighed.  "No.  Not for a very long time.  I don''t think I''ve been able to walk outside the house since I was around four, so ever since then I''ve pretty much stayed in my room.  If it weren''t for the books Mother brought me, I think I''d have gone crazy by now."


    Yoko''s eyes lit up when Mama mentioned reading.  "Tell me Mei, what kinds a books do ya like ta read."


    "Hmm.  Well, to tell the truth I mostly like two kinds.  First there''s romance novels.  Since I''ll never have a romance being like this," she gestured at herself, "I could at least imagine what it might be like to have a lover.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "Besides that, what I like to read most.... Please don''t laugh. Papa says it''s not a thing that women should involve themselves with...but I like, no I LOVE reading about history."


    After saying that she hung her head in expectation of being soundly criticized by the two young women with her who obviously were very traditional, what with both of them being married and pregnant and all.  What she wasn''t prepared for was Hibiki leaping to her feet and pointing at her sister, then doubling over laughing.


    Mama looked completely bewildered.  Obviously she had no idea what she''d said to prompt such a response.  Fortunately, Yoko answered her question and put her at ease at the same time.


    "How should I put it without offending?  Let''s just say that your father''s attitude is somewhat old-fashioned.  The reason my chortling sib is laughing so hard is that I''m training ta be a teacher...of history."


    "No!  Really?"


    "Yes. Really.  In fact our husband''s mother is a full professor of history at Ingvold Academy.  It''s the most prestigious school in The City.  Not only that, Duchess Henrietta is funding a number of historical research studies at Ingvold because she loves history too."


    Yoko leaned forward and looked directly into Mama''s eyes.  "So, no, I see absolutely nothing at all wrong with you enjoying history."


    Mama had leaned forward when Yoko did and their faces were only about 10 cm apart.   She fell back against the side of the pool and whispered, "Oh my."


    She sat there for several minutes, and the twins assumed that she''d finished talking.  Suddenly she sat bolt upright, and her face was contorted with anger.  "If that''s true, what else have they told me that''s a lie, or wrong, and, for that matter, what didn''t they tell me AT ALL?"


    After that she whispered softly, "There are about to be some changes, and I don''t think that my family will like them very much."


    She turned to Hibiki and then Yoko.  "I''m sorry.  I don''t wish for my family problems to intrude upon you.  You''ve been so kind as to come here to help me.  Let''s talk about something more pleasant, shall we?"


    I expect that if Mama had been sitting in someone''s parlor she would have used her hands to smooth down the front of her dress when she said that, but she wasn''t so she didn''t.  Instead she asked, "You both look very young, you''re even smaller than I am, and I know that I"m very short.  Should you even BE pregnant at your ages?  I know I don''t know all that much about it, but I read that having a baby before you''re at least 18 isn''t all that good an idea."


    Yoko grinned back at her.  "Truly, we''re below average in size, but not unusually so.  From where we sit, you''re pretty much average height for someone living here.  Now Kaho out there," she pointed with her chin in the approximate direction, "is the tallest women I''ve ever seen.


    "Speaking of which, how old are you Mei?"


    "Me?  Oh, I''m 19."


    Hibiki clapped her hands together, "How about that. So are we!  What''s your birthday?"


    "It''s June 19th."


    The next thing Mama knew, Yoko and HIbiki had slid under water and streams of bubbles were rising from below.  Once again she had no idea what was going on, but she''d seen both of them slap their hands over their mouths right before, so she assumed that nothing bad had happened to them.


    Before Mama could figure out what she should do, if anything, the twins burst ouf of the water and wrapped their arms around her.


    "If we believed in coincidences...."


    "And we don''t..."


    "We''d say it was pure chance that you were born on the same day that we were."


    "But knowing what we do, we''d have to say..."


    "That a certain someone has been meddling again."


    Mama had looked back and forth at the twins as they completed each other''s sentences, enough so that her neck was getting sore.  She wasn''t accustomed to sitting up and supporting her own head for very long.


    "Do you think it''s about time ta ask her?"


    "Yeah, the mood is good, and now might be best.  If she never left her room, how did she get pregnant, right?"


    "Indeed.  I think I''d be the best one ta ask, since we have a shared interest, don''t ya think?"


    "Agreed.  Go for it Yoko.  I shall have your back.  I always do."


    Yoko leaned back so she could see Mama clearly.  "Ah. Mei.  You said that you haven''t been outside of your house since you were four, so, ah, how did you manage to get pregnant?"


    When she''d been asked before, by her family, she''d been unable to speak.  But she was still light-headed from the healing and the soaking, and, for the first time in her life, she felt that she truly had made real friends.  She didn''t understand what they meant about "someone meddling," but the thought of them all being born on the same day and being pregnant at the same time somehow relaxed all her inhibitions.


    "Oh. That.  Actually it was sort of a mistake.  Since I ''knew'' that I wasn''t going to live all that long, I asked Mother to arrange for some nice man to ah ''visit'' me and show me what the lovemaking I''d read about in my romances was all about."


    Mama giggled.  "She looked totally shocked when I asked her, but, after I''d explained my reasoning, she looked more sad than anything else.  About a month later she brought home a young man and introduced us.  He came to chat several times, then, one day about four months ago, she left the room and he stayed.  Then, well, you obviously know what happened.


    "I didn''t expect to get pregnant though.  After all it was only that one time."


    She patted her stomach fondly.  "But I guess once is all it takes, right?  I hope I live long enough to have a healthy baby.  I haven''t even seen her, but I already love her so much.  Surely someone will be willing to love her after I die."


    At that point Yoko and Hibiki totally lost it.  They wrapped their arms around Mei and bawled like  babies.


    The sound was loud enough that it penetrated even to the sitting area in the front of the house.  Kaho sprang to her feet, expecting the worst, but Jason grabbed her wrist.  "Don''t worry Sis, it''s OK.  Yoko and Biki say that they''ll explain later.  They also said that the only way that Mei is going to return to that "hell hole she calls her home" will be over their dead bodies.  They won''t tell me exactly what happened, but it seems that it, no, not ''it'', a lot of things were pretty awful for her when she was growing up."


    Jason pondered a bit then his face lit up.  "Ailin, will you please come here when you can spare a moment?"


    Three minutes later there was a knock on the door.  Dr. Kastner had left to see a patient, so Kaho, being his associate, let Ailin in.


    Jason stood.  "Thank you for coming.  Will you please tell mother the basic outline of what''s happened to Mei here?  It probably won''t hurt to mention that she likes history just as much as Yoko does.  Then ask her if she and father will allow Mei to live in that spare bedroom in the back of the house.  I expect that Kaho will be much happier knowing that she''s living in a safe environment.  Besides, this way she''ll be able to check on Mei frequently."


    He turned to Kaho.  "You WILL need to check on her frequently, won''t you?"


    Kaho nodded and a gigantic grin spread across her face.  "Yes, that would be wise.  You''ve gotten pretty glib little brother.  Not many could have come up with that good of a sob story on such short notice."


    She turned to Ailin.  "Ailin, if you don''t mind, please tell mother that I wholeheartedly agree with Jason.  Oh, and also please ask Sergeant Rivers to stop by here as soon as possible.  I think that if mother and father have even a slight disinclination to let Mei stay with us, knowing that her entire family has just been arrested for abuse will persuade them.


    "But don''t mention that unless you feel that it''s necessary.  Let''s not give her even more work to do than she already has."


    "Indeed. Yes Miss Kaho.  I shall be on my way."


    Ailin spun around smoothly and strode out the door.  Twenty minutes later Sergeant RIvers knocked and entered.  Over the next hour she proved that she deserved her position as second-in-command of the Duchess'' Guard.  She didn''t say a single word, but it was apparent that she was becoming more and more angry.  It took her no time at all to leap to a number of possible conclusions when she heard the part about Mei never leaving home yet still becoming pregnant in spite of not having any male friends.


    Before she could explode, Jason interjected, "Please relax Sargeant, at least somewhat.  I can say with absolute confidence that neither her older brothers nor her father were responsible.  My wives won''t tell me the circumstances, but that much is clear.  It definitely wasn''t forced.  It was her personal  choice to become involved with a man, though she hadn''t considered pregnancy as a consequence.


    "Yes I know that she should have, but after working with you on so many cases, I know how often girls forget about such things in the heat of the moment.


    "That being said, for possibly the first time in my life, I find myself very, very angry."


    Kaho turned to the sergeant.  "Do you need any other information Sandy?"


    Sergeant Rivers stood and prepared to leave.  "No.  If my investigation confirms what  you''ve said, I doubt that any of them will even insist on a trial.  A jury won''t just convict them, they''ll probably push the judge to exceed the maximum possible sentence somehow.  I just wonder if they''ll ever comprehend the immensity of what they''ve done to her.  You have to be incredibly dense, or vicious, to continue abusing someone in that manner for so many years."


    "Well, whichever it is, we''ll find out...and I''d best get to it.  I expect that the hardest part of this will be keeping the Duchess and Miranda from going ballistic."


    There was a twinkle in her eye as she added, "Fortunately I can leave that part to my brother  since he''s the Captain of the Guard.  It''s high time for him to earn his not so prodigious salary."


    She bowed slightly.  "If you''ll excuse me."


    Not waiting for an answer she let herself out.

 Olivias Tale (conclusion)

    Things fairly exploded from that moment on.  Not that any one thing moved all that fast, but rather it was because there were so many things happening at the same time.  I think that day was when the idea that "teamwork is the best work" became part of our beings.


    After the sergeant left, there was no doubt that Mama''s family wouldn''t be showing up to see her the next morning.  They''d be much too busy being entertained by their several interrogations at The City jail.  The net result of those was nothing really surprising to anyone who knew the family.  Grandfather, when asked why Mama hadn''t been seen by a physician since she was four, said that he''d seen no need.  "It wasn''t like she was dying."  She was merely "a cripple who needed caring for."  It seemed that he''d never once entertained that idea that Mama might have a mind at all, much less one of her own.


    When they asked him why the family hadn''t at least had her use the baths so as to get at least SOME healing effect from the spring water, his answer totally flabbergasted them.  What he''d said was, "I don''t believe in all that superstition. It''s nothing but tomfoolery.  We boarded that up years ago.  When we need to bathe we shower with water from the aqueduct."


    That was bad enough, but what he said next sealed his fate, and, incidentally entered the annals of The City as the most flagrant example of intolerant stupidity in its entire history.   Up to that point, he might have gotten off with just a fine, even after what he''d just said.  The thing is that the tribunal hadn''t planned on asking any more questions.  He volunteered it all by himself.


    What he said was, "I learned a long time ago that with any business there''s no use in throwing good money after bad.  She should be grateful that I even bothered to give her a place to live.  What I''ve spent on feeding and clothing her these 19 years has been enough that I could have started someone in a new, and productive, business rather than wasting it on her."


    He was escorted back to his cell, and a certified transcript of the interrogation was forwarded to Duchess Henrietta with a "suggestion" that she drop what she was doing and read it immediately.


    Upon hearing Captain Murray''s words she was speechless for a full minute.  No one had EVER barged in and essentially commanded her to interrupt her schedule.  She was of a mind to flay the Captain for his presumption, but, unlike Grandfather, her mind kicked in instantly.  Something major had to be going on. (Besides, yelling at your husband because you''re irritated and he''s not done anything wrong is counterproductive.)


    She excused herself from the meeting she was presiding over and led the Captain to her private office, whereupon she extended her hand.


    He placed the documents in her hand and assumed a "parade rest" position.  That really got her attention.  He was planning to wait while she read whatever it was he''d just handed her.  He was nearly as busy as she was.  Normally he begrudged even a five minute delay.


    She sighed in exasperation.  "We''ve been married for 23 years now.  Don''t you think that you could relax, at least when we''re alone?"


    Not moving a muscle he replied, "Actually, no I can''t, not when I''m working Love.  I try, but it just doesn''t work."


    Smiling down at her he whispered, "I''ll make it up to you when we''re alone tonight.  I promise."


    Henrietta blushed slightly, then schooled herself into a neutral, almost bland expression as she began reading.  That lasted all of two minutes, changing to what one might call "the calm before the storm" as she read the charges and transcript.


    When she''d finished reading she asked a single question, "Was he at all repentant?"


    "Not at all Your Grace.  As a matter of fact, he seemed to be rather proud of how he''d dealt with the ''situation'' and how much money he''d saved."


    "I see."


    She turned to the appendix and spent several more minutes reading.  "Is this a true and accurate listing of his holdings?"


    "Yes Your Grace.  We prevailed upon Robert Donetti to ah, expedite putting the information together for us.  Once he knew why, he did all the work himself.  He said that it wouldn''t do for staff to be spreading rumors about a confidential matter still being dealt with by the court."


    Both of them knew that there were other reasons.  Robert adored children, all children.  He was a secret contributor to the project that Paolo and Sara had by then begun that was intended to aid twins in The City.  He could never had sat still and done nothing in a case as horrific as this, so he''d done what he could.


    Henrietta''s next question was of a more practical bent, "What of the rest of the family? How are/were they involved?"


    "Her mother apparently tried several times to arrange a consultation with a physician.  Each time, and all three of her older sibs agreed when interviewed separately, her father had flown into a rage and had essentially told her to quit wasting his time.  Mei was as she was and that was that.  The last time he''d threatened to divorce her if she brought it up again.  At the time the sons were only 13.  They never had the nerve to say anything to anyone about the matter.  Even now that they''re 24 they''re still terrified of him.  The older daughter Darci had a shaking fit every time we tried to talk to her about his temper."


    A long, drawn-out sigh escaped from Henrietta''s lips.  One more abuser who had gone decades presenting a "proper" face to the community while terrorizing the family.  She reached for pen, parchment, and her official seal.  This case could be dealt with, though the ramifications would probably be years in declaring themselves.


    "Bobby, as I see that both sons are employed, I''ll leave dealing with them to you and Mr. Donetti.  It''s obvious that they''re going to need treatment themselves more than punishment, though some sort of proper education concerning dealing with problems like this would be in order."


    She tapped her cheek with the pen several times.  "Ah.  That might work.  Let''s turn Sara and Paolo loose on them.  If anyone can bring them around those two could.  Besides, they''re nearly the same age.  It should go down easier than if someone substantially older had charge of them.  We can probably include this Darci in the group as well.


    "I imagine you plan to have Sandy work with the mother?"


    "Yes Your Grace.  Unfortunately she''s become quite the expert in dealing with abused women over the years she''s been in your service."


    "Right then.  That leaves this Mei child.  What should we do about her do you suppose?"


    Bobby showed the Duchess his first genuine smile of the day.  "I must say that the resolution to that situation has been well begun.  I find it hard to believe, but it''s true.  Anyway, Blair Macklin''s twins were born on the same day as Mei.  They''re getting on like peas in a pod, what with that and with all three of them being pregnant.  Sebastian and Akane Fukui have taken her into their home.


    "Officially it''s because it will make it easier for Kaho to supervise her medical care."


    He leaned toward Henrietta and whispered conspiratorily, "My personal suspicion is that she''ll be a permanent resident.  Besides the twins being so attached to her already, it turns out that Mei is absolutely fascinated by history.  It''s too early to tell for sure, but, what with her having nothing else to do but read for the past 14 years, she may know even more about it than Yoko does.


    Henrietta leaned back in her chair, gazed at the ceiling, and whispered,  "Well.  Well, well.  How very interesting.  I wonder how she pulled this one off."


    Captain Murray looked on quizzically.  "Your Grace?"


    Henrietta waved her hand.  "Nothing Bobby.  Just a stray thought.  Put it down to my getting old and forgetful."


    He looked at her intently.  One doesn''t glare at a Duchess, no matter how long you''ve known her, or even if you''re married, so we''ll keep calling the look "intent" and leave it at that.  "Yeah. Right.  As if you''ve forgotten ANYTHING of any import in the past 30 years."


    Rather than answering, she pulled out another parchment and began writing.  Once she finished that, she returned to the first one and completed it as well.  Then, unexpectedly, seemingly as an afterthought, she took out a sheet of her best writing paper and started all over.


    When she finished she handed each to the Captain.  "Make the usual copies.  Officially Brewster Witherspoon has been found guilty of tax evasion that has taken place over at least the past 10 years.  He has been sentenced to 20 years with the road crews.  All his assets are confiscated.  We''ll allocate enough to maintain his wife and three eldest children until they can be permanently placed in situations that won''t lead to their destitution.


    "I can''t see punishing them for his sins.


    "25% of his estate, once liquidated, will officially be added to the treasury as payment with interest and penalties for non-payment of taxes.  We''ll keep that set aside so we can use it in the future to help other victims without means of their own.  The balance will be set aside in trust for Mei Witherspoon.  I imagine that Robert''s bank will be happy to serve as trustee."


    She began to rub her hands together, and smiled up at the Captain.  "As for the third document, it''s my certification of approval of the Fuki family as Mei''s guardians, all of them, except for Rebecca.  A 15 year old guardian is stretching things too much.


    "It wouldn''t hurt if you were to hint that I''d be amenable to them adopting her if they like her as much as you think they will.  She''s past the usual age where one could consider that, but, seeing as how she is ''disabled'', I think it would fly.  Best of all, it would let her change her surname legally without having to explain why in court."


    Livi and I were estatic.  In the beginning, it had looked as if we were going to be born into a very difficult situation, to say the least.  Now things were looking a great deal better.


    I''m not going to bore you with the next eight years.  Mama was indeed adopted by the Fukui family, and within two months I might add.  It was a mutual feeling of "long lost family member is finally reunited."  She never did become truly normal with regard to her health, but she did improve to where she could go out on carriage rides, go to concerts, and visit the libraries, which we think was her greatest pleasure.


    Within a year and a half, she had become Grandma Fukui''s personal secretary.  Before that she served as the go-to person when one of the five of us babies needed extra milk.  Hibiki and Yoko produced a goodly amount, but their twins kept draining them dry.  It''s strange when you stop and think about it, her being so frail and all, but Mama made twice as much milk as the others.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    As they described it to us later, (remember, we''d been born by then and were infants in mind as well as body) it sounded extremely odd, though all three of our Mamas swear that they thought nothing of it at the time.  They''d sit in a circle with all five babies on their laps, trying to keep all of us fed, cleaned, and burped.  If one was still hungry when one breast was depleted, that baby would be passed to whomever still had some milk to spare.  Then the one who''d passed off that baby would pick up another to change/burp/pet or whatever.


    While they were doing that they''d chat about how their days had gone, share any interesting gossip, and discuss clothes, the idiocy of men, and other women.  You know, the usual.  Discussions about work were for less private situations.  I''m not sure why they felt that way, but they did, so that''s how it went.


    Come to think of it, I''m sure that their always dividing up the care of us is why none of us could keep straight who our birth mother was till we were about six or seven.


    Once we''d all been weaned, Mama was able to devote herself full time to helping Akane, and to going to the libraries on days when she had a bit more energy.  Since Mama''s stamina wasn''t all that good, she wanted to do things as quickly and efficiently as possible once she arrived, since she could never tell when her energy would run out.


    When she discovered that Paolo and Sara had finished indexing and organizing the contents of the libraries from the Cathedral of Whispers and the Little Cathedral, she was thrilled.  Right then and there she decided to memorize the indexes.  ALL of them.  That way when she was after something in particular she could go straight to whatever she needed.


    Whenever she wasn''t up to going out, and Akane or Yoko needed to know something, Mama told them exactly where to find whichever book or document they were looking for.  Had her health been better she''d have been instantly offered full time employment in the libraries, her lack of formal education be damned.


    (Ah Geez!  Of course we never EVER called her ''Akane'' out loud!   When we were talking to or about her she was always ''Grandmother''.  Besides Livi and I didn''t learn that she wasn''t our biological grandmother until several years later.)


    Now quit interrupting me.  Getting back to Mama and employment. Her health WASN''T better enough for working at the libraries, so that was that.  Besides, Mama was rather shy, quite like Yoko when she wasn''t trying to cover it up by pretending to be so worldly wise.  In addition to helping Akane with her affairs, Mama spent however much time she could helping Hibiki survive as the stay-at-home mother for the six of us.


    Hibiki still worked with Jason on helping people with styling twice a week, but mostly she reveled in taking care of us children.  She paid no attention to which child had which birth mother.  She considered all of us children hers, and mothered us all equally.


    When she was able to be with us, Mama was of a like mind, but she couldn''t do much of a physical nature.  However, by the time we were all five, that didn''t matter any more.  It turned out that  she was, and is, one of the best storytellers ever.  Once she got going, even the most rambunctious of us would stop and listen.


    (Yes, I admit it.  That was Livi and I.  Are you happy now?)


    Ok.  So, like I said before, let''s skip to when we were eight.  That was when we first found out that we weren''t blood relatives of the rest of the family.  We accidentally heard Grandmother talking to Mama.  (Well, yes, we were spying on them, but hey, it sounds better the other way, right?)  Grandma Akane was hugging Mama and Mama was doing likewise to Akane.  Grandmother was saying, "It''s been close to nine years now, and I still can''t help but be grateful that you were given to us to adopt.  One of these days I think I''ll have to thank Lady Blue, if I ever see her again.  It''s been both too long and too short a time, if you take my meaning."


    Mama lifted her head off of Grandma''s chest, giggled a bit, then said, "Well, from what you told me about her, I can see why you''d say that.  Frankly though, I''d love to meet her.  She sounds a lot like Olive.  Well, minus the imaginary playmate of course.


    Mama got a somewhat worried look.  "I thought that children quit talking to or about their imaginary playmates when they were younger.  You''d think that with her other four siblings she''d have plenty of friends.  I mean, they get along as well as any children I''ve heard of.  I wish someone would explain to me why Olive still insists that she has a sister named Livia."


    I was about to storm into the room and, I''m not sure what, but I was going to do something.  Livi was just as real as the rest of us.  My twin just happened to live with me in the same body instead of us being in two bodies like the others.


    Before I could do anything, there was a flash of blue light and a woman even smaller than Aunt Hibiki and Aunt Yoko was standing in the room.  Grandma Akane had rolled her eyes at the ceiling.  Mama was staring at the little woman like she hoping that she was imagining things.


    A moment later Grandmother managed a hoarse croak, "Mei dear.  I''d sort of like to be able to breathe, and I surely don''t want my ribs broken.  I''m pleased of course to see that you''ve become so strong, but could you let go, at least a little?"


    Well Mama let go and jumped back and started to apologize, but before she could say anything the little blue woman laughed.  "You''re always so interesting Akane.  I think that even if there were a flood coming you''d find a way to turn what should be ''RUN!'' into a whole paragraph.


    "Maybe it has something to do with you being a scholar.  I''ve noticed that most scholars can turn what should be a sentence into a paragraph and a paragraph into a page...or a chapter.  Well, to be honest, it''s not just scholars.  There are a plethora of novelists that do the same thing...unfortunately."


    Grandmother looked really really ticked off, uh, I mean ''offended''.  But then she smiled and said very softly, "I''ve missed you too, in spite of your wretched sense of humor.  I do wish you''d find time to visit more often."


    The little lady smiled back then stretched out her arm and made as if she was pulling something.  The next thing I knew we were walking into the room.


    "Very good child.  You just stand there and don''t say anything for a while.  I know it''s a bit hard for you, but bear with it."


    We could be polite when we needed to be, and we figured that we really needed to right then, seeing as how we''d been caught spying.  (Well of course Grandmother and Mama figured it out.  Mama may not be as smart as Grandmother, but she''s not dumb either.)


    We bowed to the lady and to Grandmother and to Mother and didn''t say a single word.  We were still hoping that we could escape, even though it seemed pretty much impossible.


    The little lady turned to Mama.  "I came here because you asked me to in a way, when you wished that someone would explain Olive''s ''imaginary playmate''.  Ordinarily I leave everyone to live their lives on their own and...  AKANE!   You quit rolling your eyes like that, right now!"


    We turned to look at Grandmother, and she had an excessively innocent look on her face, just like we do when one of us children has managed to snitch cookies for all of us when nobody was watching.


    The little lady huffed, then looked back at Mama.  "As I was saying, ORDINARILY I don''t interfere, but there really isn''t anyone else who can answer your question besides me.  So I will.  Answer your question that is.


    "Olive isn''t talking about an imaginary playmate. She''s talking about her twin sister Livia."


    She smiled rather sadly at Mama.  "This may be a bit hard for you, but you need to know if you''re to understand the situation properly.  We all know  how sickly you were the first few months of your pregnancy.  Originally you''d conceived twins, but, because of your health, you lost one of them early on.  Normally that''s not a major problem.  The mother completes her pregnancy and has a single child.


    "In your case, there was a complication.  Your girls absolutely refused to be separated, no matter what.  I won''t go into all the details and negotiations, but what finally happened was that both your twins are now living in one body."


    While she''d been talking the little lady has been pacing back and forth.  It was only when she stopped that we noticed that she was about half a meter in the air.


    "You''ve probably noticed that there are times when Olive sounds a bit different than usual or acts differently than what you''d normally expect.  That''s because at those times Livi, which is Olive''s pet name for her sister, has taken over.  Normally they decide what to do together, but they''re like any other sisters.  Sometimes they disagree and even fight with each other and that''s why their behavior changes.


    "They''re a lot like Yoko and Hibiki.  Olive is more outgoing and she''s usually the one moving their body.  Livi is more like Hibiki.  She''s a bit on the shy side and like to watch what''s going on more than being all that active physically.


    "I do need to warn you, as if you didn''t already know, they''re both definitely on the mischievous side."


    Mama''s mouth had been hanging open.  I think she realized it all of a sudden cause it snapped shut like a mousetrap.  She turned toward us with a really odd expression.  Before we could try to figure it out, she ran over and hugged us, fortunately not as tightly as she''d hugged Grandmother.


    Then she pushed herself back some.  There were tears streaming down her face.  Next she hugged us again.  We''d sorta figured out by then that she wasn''t mad at us.  We''d already seen enough of life to know that sometimes when people are surprised they blame how they''re feeling on someone else and get really angry, and we''d been afraid that something like that might happen.


    Mama whispered to us, "What an amazing blessing.  Before you were born I prayed every day that I''d live long enought for you to BE born at all.  When you were, and everyone was so nice to you, I was so incredibly relieved.  I was so ill afterwards that I really DID think I was going to die.  At least I knew that my child would be loved and taken care of.


    "And now here you are.  I don''t have just one healthy daughter.  I have TWO!  If I were able to, I think I''d be dancing around the room in midair like that lady there is."


    Naturally as soon as Mama said it we turned to look at her, all four of us.


    The little lady was indeed dancing across the room, in the air.  When she noticed us all staring at her, she stopped and blushed.  It was the first and only time we ever saw someone blush blue though.


    Next she sorta floated down to the floor, very slowly like.


    "Well, I''m glad that we got that sorted out.  Now, if you don''t mind a suggestion...?"


    We all nodded, but nobody said anything.  I think we were still kinda numb from what we''d just seen.


    "Right then.  It''s rather rude to speak to twins and only use one of their names.  Why not do this?  Change what you call them.  Since they''re Olive and Livia, why don''t you start calling them Olivia?  It''s made up of parts of both their names.  If you do that, everyone will eventually do the same.  You''d probably better explain their situation to Yoko and Hibiki, but maybe not anyone else."


    She lifted her head a bit toward the ceiling and just stared for a while.  Then she smiled and turned back to us.  "You''re probably the only set of twins who won''t ever be at risk for developing  Separation Sickness, since you''ll never be apart from each other."


    Then she gave us a look that we found out years later was a leer.  "You''re still going to have to agree on who you''ll marry though, just like Hibiki and Yoko did."


    She shrugged her shoulders.  "Well, that shouldn''t be a problem.  They found Jason and reeled him in.  I imagine that two imps like you shouldn''t have any problem doing the same when the time comes."


    She spun around in a circle, and then she wasn''t there any more, except for her voice, "Toodles.  Lots to do and not enough time.  Just like your family.  I''ll see you later."


    Mama was still holding us by our shoulders.  She turned back to us, "Olivia?  Do you like it?  Will that do for when we need to speak to both of you?"


    "Yes Mama."  "Sounds good to me."


    Mama fell right onto her backside, and Grandmother laid herself down on the floor.  We found out later that it was so she wouldn''t faint.


    Livi and I had no idea what was going on at first but then...


    "Oh my god!"  "Both of us talked."   "We''ve never done that before."  "And our voices sound so different!"


    Mama whispered, "You don''t suppose that the little lady did something?"


    Grandmother sat up, carefully, but she looked pretty much normal.  "It''s very likely.  Lady Blue can do some rather unusual things."


    She laughed, a short bark of a laugh.  "Well, you already know that.  I don''t think anyone else can just appear out of nothing and dance around in the air."


    She tilted her head up a bit and looked sorta toward the ceiling.  "FIrst of all I need to thank you for giving my granddaughters their own, separate voices.  Secondly I think I''ll complain a bit about it too.  I''m not entirely sure, but I suspect, strongly, that figuring out how and when and then training them so they don''t use their new gift at the wrong time is going to be more than difficult.


    Then she shook her fist at the air.  "You seem to have quite a talent for stirring things up like that.  You probably think it''s funny, don''t you?  Your sense of humor has always seemed to me to be exceedlingly warped."


    "I resemble that remark, and you''re welcome.  Bye now.  This time for real."


    After that Grandmother came over and we had a group hug, a nice long one.  As she usually was, Grandmother was right.   Learning how and when to use our separate voices was pretty hard, but as the years went by, we found it very useful too.


    How?  Maybe I''ll tell you later.  Right now Mama is going to tell all of us a story, and Cook has made hot chocolate too.  Sorry, but story AND hot chocolate together are much more important than your curiosity.  See ya!

 Wheels Within Wheels

    Ptica cleared her throat to get her student''s attention.  Immediately thereafter she re-seated and adjusted the sound-dampening device that covered her mouthparts.  It wouldn''t do to have the furniture, and the students, vibrate across the floor every time she spoke.


    It had been 143 years since she''d accidentally knocked a student unconscious when she coughed.  The investigation that followed had resulted in her being required to wear a dampening device with a double setup in case the primary circuit failed.


    Idiots!  It had taken them a month to come to the same conclusion she arrived at within three minutes after inspecting the device.  She''d begun wearing a new one with dual circuitry the following day.  She had also so informed the investigative committee.


    Their response?  "You are not allowed to interfere with or influence an ongoing investigation. You are forbidden from contacting us again else you will be fired.  Do you understand?"


    She''d understood all right.  Besides being total idiots, they needed to be gotten rid of, which she had managed, though it had taken her nearly 60 years to accomplish.  She hoped that they never traced their "promotion" assignments back to her.  Being stuck in a barely habitable ''verse studying semi-sentient lifeforms was important, but even so....


    Bah, she needed to stop woolgathering and get back to reality.


    "Sorry about that everyone, at least a little.  We have a lot to cover today, so let''s be about it."


    She extracted the appropriate data chip and inserted it in the player.


    "Even after over 1100 years of study, we still know few details about the organization that was created by Sara and Paolo Donetti in an effort to increase understanding of, and to help twins born in The City of The Bells.


    "Every so often, we acquire a bit more data.  Today we are going to review a recording recently recovered from one of the storage vaults that was being remodeled.  It was made approximately 16 years after they began their efforts to aid twins.  Even with this we still only have hints as to their true purpose.  However, each piece of the puzzle we obtain gets us that much closer to a solution.


    "As for the setting:  It was only two years earlier, in AF 738 that Paolo was promoted to Coadjutor Bishop, thus finally achieving a rank equal to Sara''s as Librarian In Charge of the new Central Library in The City."


    She ruffled her feathers to settle them more comfortably.  "Enough preamble, let''s get on with the presentation."


    --------------------


    July 12 in The Year 740 After the Founding


    Erin and Enrique Fukui, Marla Martinez, and Tomaso Scott were nearly out of breath and were no longer able to speak.  The 6:55 p.m. bell that preceded the beginning of that month''s Festa had sounded two, or maybe three minutes earlier and they were running at their top speed so as to reach the Church of the Placid Heart before it hit 7:00 p.m. and all hell broke lose.  Fortunately, the streets were entirely empty and they didn''t have to worry about running into anyone.


    It was true that the bell ringing had never killed anyone, at least not directly.  A few hundred years ago, when homes weren''t built as sturdily as they were now, a number of people HAD died when their houses collapsed, but that was then.


    Now, 529 years after Duke Giovanni formalized the dates of the Festas, natives of The City, were themselves mostly resistant, but, even so, being outdoors when the Festa bells went off was extremely painful.


    Their aim wasn''t to get inside the church itself.  It would likely already be full of tourists taking refuge from the bells.  Fortunately, one of the first things Paolo had done when he became a bishop was to have the shields on the church extended by 30 meters so as to cover most of the grounds.  As a result, they were headed for the back of the church, specifically a side door that would let them into the quarters set aside for those bishops who had  families.  (Bishop Lundgren occupied the bachelor quarters on the other side of the church.)


    If anyone asked later why they''d taken refuge from the Festa bell ringing at a church so far away from their homes, they''d agreed to say that due to the crowds, they were unable to make it home in time.


    A church devoted to the benefits of silence was the perfect place for a rendezvous.  One who practices contemplation has much time to think, which can result in one being quite skilled at organizing conspiracies, which was the true reason for their taking refuge there.  Specifically, they were there to ask the bishop to help them contrive a way to escape from the binders that were about to be imposed on them by their parents some time in the next year or two.  In Erin''s case things were just a bit more urgent.


    Erin and Enrique were 16 year old twins and members of an extended family that were the best patisseries in The City.  Marla, who was Erin''s best friend was 18 year old and the second daughter of one of the major fruit and vegetable merchants.  Tomaso was the second son of what was widely considered to be the best bakery in town and was 19 years old.  He was Enrique''s best friend and, if you will, an enthusiastic co-conspirator.


    In truth a substantial number of tourists came to The City, at least in part, to visit the shops belonging to the twin''s and Tomaso''s families, and that was the problem.  Erin had recently been informed that her family intended to expand their business by marrying her to Albert Cortini, the eldest son of another patisserie located in a part of town where her family didn''t have a shop yet.  The other party''s parents were most enthusiastic, both because of the increased business they''d have as a result of being able to change their name to that of the more famous stores, but also because they''d begun to despair of ever finding a match for their rather, ah, unique son.


    It seems that, while he was truly a gifted patisserie, he spent essentially all of his spare time composing songs.  There was of course no shame in that.  Musicians and songcrafters were highly valued in this particular society.  The problem was that he was completely tone deaf and insisted on "singing" his compositions to anyone he could trap into listening.  Even the girls who were the most ardent fans of exquisite pastries, and who would otherwise consider marrying into his family a major coup, tended to run away, some screaming in pain, once they heard him performing one of his compositions.


    To further complicate matters, Albert''s family was planning to send him to "perfect his skills" at a relative''s shop in a town over 30 kilometers away.  Nobody believed that explanation, and it was common knowledge that his parents wanted to get him somewhere, anywhere, where he would no longer scare away customers with his performances.  They figured that someone with Erin''s almost godlike talents in the kitchen might outweigh even his caterwallings. Enrique had no such worries as his skills were adequate at best, something that had long disappointed his parents.


    For Erin and Enrique this was something far worse than her marrying someone she didn''t even like much less love.  Like all twins born in the City of the Bells, they experienced physical pain when they were separated for more than a few days.  Over the past 180 years, since medicine had become a true science rather than myth and folklore, there had been a number of carefully documented case reports of twins dying after being separated by either a distance of over 65 kilometers for as little as three weeks or for more than two months at 40 to 50 kilometers.


    Despite that there was one unexpected benefit from such a dangerous linkage.  Like many twins anywhere, each set often had a private language that others couldn''t understand.   However with twins born in The City, things went a bit beyond that.  For reasons still unknown to science, all twins born in The City were able to communicate with each other at all times.  It didn''t matter how far apart they were, they could still talk to each other.  Needless to say the military and businesses with offices spread across the country went to great lengths to recruit those born here.


    Duchess Henrietta had at least three sets in her employ at all times.  Having a lookout on one of the nearby mountains who could instantly report bandits, or smugglers, to the Guard was more than handy.


    Let''s see, where was I?  Oh yes....


    The situations for Marla and Tomaso, while not nearly as acute as Erin''s, were also becoming difficult.  A young woman was expected to be married at any time after the age of 17.  Most children completed their secondary educations at 17 or 18 and it was deemed a reasonable time for marriage.


    At 20 she would be considered to be almost a spinster.  On the other hand, 20 wasn''t all that old for a young man to still be single, as many were not yet truly competent journeymen in their crafts, or firmly settled into some other permanent employment.  It was expected that one would at least have that rank when one married.  This practice was common at least in the more prosperous families.  It was unfortunate, in a sense, that Tomaso was so skilled that he had already officially become a journeyman by the age of 17, and he would be 20 in November.  Remaining unmarried for three years after attaining that status was highly unusual, and his parents, like Marla''s, were getting more aggressive about his getting on with things.


    Thus the four had gathered today to seek counsel from Bishop Paolo Donetti.  He was a bit young for his position, merely 36.  However, he was widely considered to be a very wise man. This was probably because most of the time he sat quietly and listened while others did most of the talking.   That was part of the reason why Bishop Lundgren, who planned to retire within a few years, had selected Paolo to serve as his Coadjutor.


    Even given his position, he had much in common with the four young people in that he was quite a connoisseur and had almost an addiction when it came to excellent breads and pastries.  As such the children had frequently found themselves in his presence while they were growing up when they made deliveries to the church.  Over the years, he had become a special confidant for all four of them and, even more important, he and his wife Sara were their true friends.


    As an extremely astute observer of the human condition, aided by the quiet counsel of his wife, and from watching his children grow along with his young friends, he was aware of a solution to their problems that they had not anticipated.  As a matter of fact, he had expended a rather large amount of the church''s charity funds as well as a large amount from the Twins Protective Fund in preparing for today''s situation.  Were his judgement proven to be faulty, he would be in a great deal of trouble.  However, even as he once again considered the potential consequences to his career, he was quite certain that his assessment was indeed correct.  The way that the four young people were looking at each other made their feelings as clear as if they were each wearing large signs on their chests.


    By force of will, he barely avoided rubbing his hands together in anticipation and declared, "There is a solution to your problem.  You would probably have realized it yourselves had you known all the facts, but of course you didn''t."


    They looked at each other and then at him, confusion written on their faces.  He continued, "I''d like to give you the pieces of the puzzle that you don''t have already and then see if you can put it all together for me.  Consider it a test of judgement if you will."


    He smiled at them placidly for a few moments, enjoying their rapt attention.  He chided himself for not properly displaying the humility appropriate to one of the priestly persuasion, but, just this once, he felt that he deserved it.  That was, of course, assuming that his plans didn''t fall apart.  In that sad case he expected that he''d be spending many nights on his knees in prayer before the altar as he sought forgiveness and the blessing of a clearer mind.


    He cleared his throat, mostly to focus his own attention then proceeded, "As you know our church sits almost exactly on the border of a previously prosperous part of town and one which is still doing well.  Many of our parishoners to the south live in what could best be called genteel poverty.  There are a great many retired priests, and their spouses if they were of sects allowing marriage, who enjoy the relative quiet behind the shields on our church.


    One of their greatest needs is affordable food.  In addition, while many of those more affluent families living north of us can afford to shop at higher end stores," he nodded at Erin, Enrique, and Tomaso, "the time it takes to go there and back is substantial.  Since priests are supposed to help people with their problems, worldly as well as spiritual, I have devised a solution.  I''m sure that you''ve noticed the construction of a rather substantial building on the land we own just to the south of the church?"


    The four nodded at him.  They''d all been extremely curious but had not ever asked.  They felt it was highly inappropriate for people of their ages to ask a lordly bishop about such a simple matter, even though seeing so many carpenters and stonemasons working on the project had them almost bursting with curiosity.


    "Well, today I''m going to tell you exactly what has been going on before you collapse from frustration."  Paolo grinned at their astonished faces.  "Of course I know how curious you''ve all been.  Bishops are supposed to know such things."


    He waved his hands.  "That''s of no matter now though.  What does matter is what happens next.  I intend for the building to house a patisserie, a greengrocers, and a bakery.  In order to save on space and expenses, the bakery and patisserie will share a rather large kitchen and storage space.  There will be special prices on the more plain items, ones that the poor parishioners can easily afford, and higher prices for the specialty items, exactly what the more well-to-do members of the district desire but have trouble attaining at present.


    "I expect no complaints from the few local merchants supplying such things.  I''ve made discrete inquiries and they either don''t like the idea of ''poor people'' cluttering up their stores and buying practically nothing, or they dislike the ''rich folks'' pestering them for more high quality items than they can afford to stock.  All five of them are certain that they''ll come out ahead if they can drop the high and low end items and concentrate on expanding their stock of items that their middle-class customers want.  It''s hardly very charitable, but I can''t fault people who want to be sure that they can adequately feed and clothe their families."


    Now he did rub his hands together in glee.  "I''ve been wanting to do this for years but the time wasn''t right."  Then he nodded sagely and added, "Until today that is."


    It was then that Marla raised her hand tentatively and asked, "Ah, Your Excellency, it sounds like a grand plan, but, uh, I mean...."


    Paolo smiled at her and made an encouraging gesture.  "Go ahead my child, you needn''t worry about offending me.  Our friendship is much too strong for me to be upset if you see something amiss."


    Marla nodded and swallowed nervously.  "Yes Your Excellency.  What I mean is, ah, it sounds wonderful, but if you''re going to have three stores, you need someone to run them, don''t you.  And it''s never been done before...having a baker and patissier in the same building I mean.  Even if you could find someone willing to chance opening new businesses there, they''d have to get along extremely well, or there could be all kinds of unpleasantness if the two were unable or unwilling to be flexible in coordinating their kitchen activities."


    "Hmmm...."  Paolo pretended to think about what was obviously a potentially serious problem by bending forward and cupping his chin in his palm.  As he did so, he noticed Tomas'' gaze flick over to Erin, followed by a pensive expression.


    Seeing that, he struggled mightily not to break out in a broad smile.  Sara, who was just re-entering the room through the door behind the children, clapped her hand over her mouth to prevent her giggles from escaping.  It wasn''t, quite, time for Paolo to set the hook, and she didn''t want to ruin the plan they''d spent so many weeks concocting.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Paolo looked up at her, slipped her a wink, then spoke solemnly, "That''s true.  That''s true.  It could indeed be a problem.  However, I''m sure that if we all put our heads together we can come up with a workable solution."


    All four of the younglings just sat and blinked at him.  Their thoughts were suddenly very sluggish.  The bishop had just said "we."  There wasn''t anyone else in the room but the six of them.  It was, typically, Enrique who spoke first, "Your Excellency, you mean ''we'' as in, well, us?" He gestured at his companions in astonishment.


    "Exactly Enrique.  You take my meaning quite well.  You''ve always had a good head on your shoulders."


    As he said that, Marla briefly glanced over at Enrique with a proud smile, and a faint blush colored her cheeks.


    Almost there.  Almost, but not quite.  It was time for the final phase of his plan.  He nodded at Sara, who turned and opened opened the door behind her a crack.  It exploded the rest of the way as four children from ages four to nine charged into the room and ran over to Paolo''s guests.  The four and six year old girls made beelines for Tomaso''s and Erin''s laps, and the nine year old twins, with a bit more decorum, rushed over to Marla and Enrique.  However, all four were babbling at the same time in a barely understandable barrage:


    "You came, you came!  Are you going to make us something today.  I want Erin''s cookies.  No, no, you can''t, I want one of Tomaso''s baguettes.  No, you can''t have sweets all the time, I want mangos and apples from Marla.  Did you bring us anything Enrique?  Did you?"


    The explosion looked about to continue, but Sara and Paolo walked over and each put their hands on two of the children''s heads.  The noise stopped instantly and the four of them lined up facing the guests and bowed.  In unison they recited, "We''re sorry."  Anna, the most irrepressible twin added under her breath, "...at least a little bit...".


    Her father gently chucked her on the head with his palm.  "Reprobate."  She grinned up at him  and he ruffled her hair.  Sara somehow managed to smile and frown slightly at the same time as she pointed at the door, and the children quietly filed out.


    Paolo said, "My intent, before the herd charged in, was to introduce you to someone you haven''t met yet.  Luigi is back from Milan. He brought back a degree in accounting and also something much more important."  He raised his voice somewhat and called, "Please come in."


    Hearing the bishop''s tone, all four visitors stood respectfully and looked at the door.  Obviously something requiring some degree of formality was about to occur.  However, what they saw first was the bishop''s oldest son Luigi, who hurried over, all smiles, and embraced his childhood friends.


    Phrases like, "So glad to see you again."  "I''ve missed you terribly." and  "Welcome home." swirled around him.  They might have settled down into a good, long conversation, but immediately behind him someone else entered the room.  She had long, blonde hair, almost to her waist, and moved with the natural grace of a gazelle.  Luigi stepped back a pace as she moved further into the room and took possession of his left arm.  Her pale skin and light hair made a striking contrast with his chocolate coloring and curly, black hair.


    "Ahem... Let me introduce you to my wife Gabriella.  We met at school and, well, as you can see we got along well, and ah...."


    She laughed; a deep, throaty laugh that somehow didn''t seem to mesh with her delicate appearance.  Then she gently tugged on his arm and beamed up at him.  "We fell in love and got married."  Seeing the shocked look in the eyes of the visitors she added, "Yes we get that a lot.  People don''t understand how Luigi could have been married at only 16 years old without meeting the usual requirement that his parents be present at the ceremony to grant their approval, since he was under 18.


    Fortunately," and here she turned to the bishop and curtsied deeply, "a certain personage informed us that the Church Law has a very unusual, old, and not very often used specification.  It seems that if one prospective spouse is an adult of marriageable age," she pointed to herself, "then the parents of the younger person," she now pointed to Luigi, "need not be present, if a document confirming that they parents have consenting to the marriage is presented at the time of the ceremony.  Said document must be signed by two priests or a bishop."


    She smiled at Paolo and gave another small curtsy.  "Seeing as there are a plenitude of priests and bishops in The City, we had no trouble at all in obtaining such a document.


    "Apparently, in the not-so-distant past, manipulative persons would coerce, or bribe, a priest into signing such a document.  By making the requirement a bishop, or two priests there was much more public scrutiny and far less corruption.  The only other requirement is that the marriage be performed in front of a couple who are already married.  They are allowed to stand as surrogates for the absent parents."


    Again, she laughed.  "The specifications are more than a bit odd, but it certainly worked for us, so I have nothing to complain about.  Thus here we are, wedded these past three months and returned to my husband''s home city seeking happiness....and employment."


    At this point Sara walked up behind her son and his new bride and put gentle arms around their shoulders.  "And they are well come.  I''m sure that it won''t be very difficult for two honors graduates to find work, especially as Gabriella''s specialty is something new outside the military.  The army calls the position a ''Quartermaster''.  It basically means someone who can find anything, knows or quickly discovers what the right price should be, and makes sure that it gets where it''s supposed to go on time.  Obviously someone with those skills will be highly sought after."


    Paolo also stood and embraced his son and daughter-in-law.  Then he interjected, "That may well be true, but the rub will be finding two jobs close together. Given that sometimes their jobs will  require them to keep late hours, I''m loathe to have such a lovely young lady walking home by herself at night even in a city as generally safe as this one.  That may cause some difficulty."


    He winked at Sara and smiled.  "However, Luigi and Gabriella have been aware of my plans and have been instrumental in organizing the financial and supply line parts.  So now we have two more minds to help us brainstorm on how to complete my project.  Does anyone have any ideas?"


    Enrique turned to Erin and gently took her hand, after which their eyes took on an unfocused look.  Gabriella was obviously startled by this, but seeing the calm expressions on the faces of everyone else in the room, she, rightly, assumed that this had something to do with the odd rumors she''d heard about twins born in this city.


    As the apparent silence stretched out into several minutes, what was at first a faint flush on the cheeks of the twins had escalated to a blush that ran from their shoulders to the top of their heads.  While they waited first Marla, and soon afterwards Tomaso also began to blush.  They looked at each other, nodded, then broke out in gigantic grins.  While so smiling they stood and walked over to stand before Enrique and Erin respectively.


    The twins also stood and let go of each other''s hand.  Then each shyly reached out to take the hand of the person in front of them.  Next Erin and Tomaso, and then Enrique and Marla turned to face the bishop.  For some reason though, they seemed unable to speak.


    Paolo beamed down at them.  It was time to set the hook.  "Did I mention that I expect quite a bit of business in my new enterprise and that the building is therefore correspondingly large.  I know it''s hard to tell with all the scaffolding in place, but each shop is about 50% larger than the average."


    Next he carefully drawled, "And it just so happens that above the shops are three lovely apartments, each suitable for a family with as many as three children, six if they get along well and double up, if such space should eventually be needed."


    Now he was facing four, totally stunned faces.  In almost no time Enrique broke the silence by pointing at the bishop with his free hand and almost shouting, "You...you...you''re a CHARLATAN!  You tricked us!"


    Enrique instantly wilted as he beheld a fierce scowl on Paolo''s face.  "You insolent boy!  You should know better than that.  You should have said, ''You''re a charlatan, Your Excellency!  Don''t ever forget to use my proper title in the future young man."


    Everyone other than Enrique burst into laughter when they heard the bishop''s remonstrance and saw Enrique gaping at him like someone who had been punched in the gut.  Shortly Enrique gained control of himself and bowed deeply.  Once he''d straightened back up he said softly, "I shall bear that in mind Your Charlatanous Excellency."


    Everyone fell back into their chairs for another howl.  Eventually silence reigned again, as was appropriate given the setting.  The bishop, Sara, Gabriella, and Luigi gazed at the others with an air of anticipation but said nothing.


    Eventually Erin and Enrique had another brief "twin" conversation.  Then each stood and took the hands of the ones they loved, who stood to join them.  Once again they faced the bishop.  Enrique spoke first, "Your Excellency, will you grant me great honor of marrying myself and Marla?"  Erin followed immediately requesting that she and Thomas be married.


    Bishop Donetti smiled and winked at them.  "What a surprise.  Who would have guessed?  Did you have any idea Sara?"


    Then he added, seriously for a change, "There was one more stipulation in the law that neither Gabriella or anyone else, not even I, could tell you.  The request for the marriage must be made by the younger of the two, and that stipulation has been a closely held secret by the church.  Presumably this was another safeguard to prevent the exploitation of children by those older than themselves, especially if the prospective partner was a number of years older."


    He grinned, "Fortunately, you''ve figured it out, so here we are."


    "Sara will you bring in the documents please."


    "Of course amore, it won''t be but a moment."


    Tomaso glared at the bishop nearly as intently as Enrique had moments ago, "Bring them in?  You already had them prepared?"


    Paolo had the grace to look mildly embarrassed.  "Well, yes.  You see, there is one little detail I didn''t inform you of.  An archbishop also has to sign the certification of marriage in cases like this, so Sara took care of that when she was consulting with Archbishop Comfort about the new library budget a month ago.  It seemed like a good idea considering what you''d all been telling me about what might be coming.  All I have to do now is put in today''s date and sign them myself."


    He rubbed his hands together again.  All present would have sworn that the grin on his face now verged on a truly "evil" one but, since he was a bishop that wasn''t possible, so they severally decided that they must have been mistaken.


    Sara re-entered the room with three rather large documents.  The bishop very briefly inspected them then signed and dated two of them and finally a duplicate"for the church registry".  Then Sara, Luigi, and Gabriella signed as witnesses.


    Sara then asked, "Luigi, Gabriella, if you would do the honors?"


    He bowed, and she curtsied.  They each took the tabard of a Servant of the Church from a hook on the back of the door leading to the church itself and shrugged into it.  Then they each took one of the documents and exited the room through said door.


    Marla looked at Enrique with a question in her gaze, and Tomoso looked at Erin likewise.  After his performance thus far, Paolo decided to stop fooling around. He''d had enough fun and he truly didn''t want to torment them any further.  What he''d done so far had been necessary (well at least most of it) to get them to realize who they were really in love with and to do something about it.  (And to get himself staff for his new project of course.  Not only had he well and truly hooked them, but he hadn''t yet had to say a word about how much he was going to pay them!)


    "Ahem.  Gabriella and Luigi will be placing the documents in the usual frames to the sides of  the front doors of the church.  Then they will ring the small bell that announces a marriage.  Given how many tourists will be in the street, as well as city folk who are finishing up whatever business was interrupted when the Festa bells rang, I expect that word of your marriages will reach all of your respective parents within the hour."


    Marla exclaimed, "Married? But...but we haven''t had a ceremony yet.  I thought that when I got married I''d...."


    Her interruption was quelled by a look from the bishop.  "Very few people seem to realize it, but the ceremony is not necessary.  You were married the moment I put my signature on the vellum.  You might also want to know young lady, that your parents had almost finalized an arrangement for you to marry the third son of the wagoneers who deliver most of your produce.  They''d planned to tell you in the next week or so, a day before the ceremony."


    Enrique caught her as she almost fainted, and gently lowered her back onto the settee.  She whispered, "How did you find out?"


    "Child, you''re a bit young for it, but I want you to use your mind and consider what our order does.  We cherish silence."  He waved a hand again.  "Of course we enjoy a boisterous celebration now and then.  Balance is important, but silence has a great deal to teach.  Especially if, when you are being silent, you overhear things that other people would rather you hadn''t.  Even more especially when they have no idea that you did."


    He stole a glance at Tomaso who also had a pale face but was still on his feet.  "Things weren''t so bad in your case. Your family was just in the very first, tentative stages of finding you someone.  You had at least a month, possibly six weeks before you were blindsided.


    "Fortunately for all of you, I''d been working on MY plan for over three years, ever since Sara noticed how deeply you children were in love with each other.  I must admit that I was more than a little amused by how you all tried so hard not to let yourselves believe it.  Though, now that I think of it, considering that the twins were only 13 at the time, it was probably a good thing that you didn''t.


    "We''ve already had to deal with a similar situation once, and I prefer not to ever have to do so again."


    The four looked at each other and then at Paolo with questions in their eyes but he chose not to enlighten them.  He shook his hands twice, as if gently shaking water off his fingertips.  "No matter.  What needs to be done now is quite simple.  The four of you need to go up to your apartments and do whatever you think appropriate.  I''m sure that you''ll eventually think of something."


    Marla and Enrique turned to look at each other, and the temperature in the room seemed to rise several degrees.  Then Tomaso and Erin did likewise.  However Tomaso looked very much like a deer would when looking at a bright lantern.  However, the smouldering look on Erin''s face more than made up for it.


    Erin raised her voice at that point, never taking her eyes off of Tomaso, "But, Your Excellency, the building isn''t finished yet.  All that scaffolding...."


    "Oh that.  That''s just camouflage.  Everything was finished, and all the furnishings put in place, two weeks ago."


    Tomaso turned back to the bishop and pointed a accusatory finger at him, "You, Your Excellency, are a VERY devious man."  Then he smiled, rather sheepishly. "When things calm down, I''d like for you to give me some lessons.  I think that, given Erin''s personality and drive, I''m going to need them if I don''t want to have to exhaust myself with keeping up with her."


    At that point, Sara opened the outside door that led to the patio behind the bishop''s residence.  From there they followed a newly graveled path to the back stairs leading up to the wide, covered balcony behind the couple''s new homes.


    "The apartment on the right is over the bakery and that on the left is over the greengrocer''s space.  The one in the middle is for Luigi and Gabriella.  Feel free to move or exchange furniture and whatever tomorrow morning...or whenever you all wake up.  And don''t worry about your parents.  Paolo IS a bishop, and no matter how angry or surprised they may be, he''ll be more than able to deal with them when they arrive.


    "Oh yes, I almost forgot."


    She pointed to a table at the side of the stairs.  "Take those covered trays up with you.  You haven''t had your dinners yet. Also, since you''re probably going to need some calories at some point during the night, there are snacks for when you get hungry again."


    She smiled at them.  "Sleep well darlings.  We''ll work out when the shops will open later.  It''s going to take at least two days to take down the scaffolding, so, if we add in the time needed for Gabriella to arrange the first deliveries, you can probably count on a four or five day honeymoon."


    With that she returned to the family parlor and closed the door behind her.


    As they walked carefully up the stairs to their new homes, Erin remarked, "Now I know what it feels like when a tornado sneaks up behind you and knocks you off your feet."


    Marla laughed.  "You got that one right sister mine.  No wonder he became a bishop at such a young age."


    As Erin looked at her in surprise, Marla correctly surmised the reason.  "Of course I called you ''sister''.  I''m married to your brother, so now we''re sisters, and that makes me very happy!"


    Both of them squealed happily and would have hugged each other had they not been carrying their dinner trays.  Instead, they smiled at each other and continued on their way.  Tomaso and Enrique just grinned and followed behind their ladies.


    Once inside their apartments and after lighting the lanterns inside the doors, they explored their new domains.  While certainly not fancy, the furniture of was good quality and was quite sturdy.  It was more than satisfactory.  Having ascertained that, and after each couple had inspected the other''s apartment and found that each was essentially identical, they retired back to their own rooms and had their dinners.


    Afterwards each couple, Enrique and Marla, with great enthusiasm, and Erin and Tomaso, more heistantly but no less intently, began their married lives.


    As Paolo had expected, a crowd consisting of the children''s parents, and a large number of onlookers, comprised of both locals and tourists, soon gathered outside the church.  Also, as Sara had prophesied, once it was pointed out to the parents that not only the bishop but also Archbishop Comfort had approved the weddings, there was literally nothing at all that they could do but accept the situation no matter how much it had upset their plans.


    Marlo and Tomaso''s parents were the first to settle down as they realized that their primary concerns had been resolved nicely.  Their friends had been teasing them about their children getting too old to make a good match.  That was no longer a problem, and their primary reaction was, to their surprise, relief.


    All four parents eventually also processed the idea that not only were their children married, but practically guaranteed success in their lives as they were employed by one of the major churches. They also realized that things might turn out rather well for them as well given that they could, when it might be to their advantage in a deal, to "accidentally" mention that their children were so highly regarded by the bishop that he was personally sponsoring them.


    By the time Paolo had finished with them, they''d even agreed to the use of the family business names on the building.  Thus it was the next morning that, as the scaffolding began to be taken down, so was the canvas covering the signboards above the doors.  On the left it said:


    Fukui and Martinez


    Patisserie and Bakery


    And on the other side of the building:


    Scott and Martinez


    Greengrocers


    When the newlyweds surfaced, it was nearly noon.  Once they''d dressed and eaten, they wandered around to where they could see the front of their new businesses.  Seeing the signs already in place, they evinced only mild surprise.  After everything that had happened the day before, this was literally nothing.  What they DID do was shake their heads as each of them privately wondered what else the bishop might have planned for them that they, as of yet, had no inkling of.


    Had he been able to read their minds, he would have smiled to himself and whispered, "Wait and see my young friends.  Wait and see.  We''re already 700 years into this ''experiment,'' but I strongly suspect that we''ve barely begun.  I wonder where we''ll be going next."

 Time Is Relative

    Freya MacOwen paused in order to take in the majestic sunrise that was beginning to spill over the valley.  Her job was both dirty and dangerous, but it was only from high in the bell towers of The City that one could see such a sight in its full glory.  Her sense of humor came close to convincing her that it would be a great shame if her twin brother Bruno slept in and missed the sight, and she almost called him.  Unfortunately for her mischievous side, her practical side overruled the former.  They had a rule that they''d never speak mind-to-mind when one of them was up in one of the towers, as distractions could cause fatal accidents.


    Oh well. Having reasoned it out, she next had to admit that, given a choice, she''d also still be in bed clinging to the last dregs of sleep.  Even the most generous person would be hard-pressed to call her anything other than a night treader, yet here she was hard at work at such an ungodly, early hour.


    Her thoughts continued in that unaccustomed, honest path, presumably due to her extreme fatigue. She admitted to herself that while the view was indeed incredible, she was also inordinately pleased that she only needed to be up so early every other month, on the mornings before the Festa, which was why Bruno was sleeping in today.  He had the duty on the months she was off.


    As always, thinking of the arrogance of the churches that insisted that THEIR chimes not be even one second behind any other''s on Festa evenings made her stomach knot.  Every time one of them sent a messenger asking one of the twins to fine-tune their clocks, immediately if you please, she wanted to yell at them about their hypocrisy when they preached patience and forbearance but had none of either themselves.


    She took a deep breath to calm herself.  Her time-sense wouldn''t work if she were tense.  Even after all these years, she still laughed when she thought of how the two of them had arrived at such a lofty state.


    When she and Bru had discovered, at age seven, that their "talent" consisted of nothing more than always knowing the exact time, they''d been incredibly disappointed.  It hadn''t helped that their "friend" Sera''s talent was one of the most prized.  She knew exactly which stud crossed with which mare would produce the highest quality foal.  She, and those with a like talent who had preceeded her, were responsible for horses bred in the valley being so highly valued throughout Italy.  She also had a habit of mentioning it, frequently, when she was anywhere near Freya and Bruno.


    Their depression had lasted until they were nine.  One day they''d been in a clock shop with their father and one of them, she didn''t remember which any more, had objected when the clocks chimed the half hour.  "That''s not right.  The clocks are all 19 seconds fast!"


    Their father had tried to shush them.  But, being as young as they were, they didn''t understand how rude it was that they were essentially telling a master clock-maker that she''d got it wrong.


    However Master Sullivan hadn''t been offended.  Rather she had been curious.  She''d stopped their father''s apologies with a question.  "Tell me child, how do you know that they''re fast?"


    The answer had been a dejected, "Cause that''s our talent, if you want to call it one.  It''s not a real talent that actually means something.  It''s just that we always know exactly what time it is."


    Master Sullivan had straightened and cast an accusatory glance at Father, who put his hands up and shook his head.  We didn''t understand at the time, but hindsight told us that he was denying that he''d said any such thing to us.  Which was true by the way.  He''d never said anything one way or the other.


    Master Sullivan had thought for a while than her face lit up.  She''d bustled into the back of her shop and brought out a table clock that had a second hand as well as the ones for minutes and hours.  She wound it, then set it in front of us.  "Go ahead, set the time then start it."


    One of us had done so, then she''d had us wait for five minutes.  Next she''d asked, "Is the time correct?"


    Freya remembered that part.  She''d answered in a disgusted tone, "No it''s not.  It''s already 11 seconds slow!"


    Father had looked from us to the Master, and back again.


    Master Sullivan picked up the clock and tossed it into a box that had a sign over it that said: "Use for Parts".


    She looked at Father and said, "She''s right.  There''s something wrong with the torsion spring that I haven''t been able to sort out.  It runs slow, about 10 seconds every five minutes."


    She''d turned back to me and said, "In this case 11 seconds, as this fine young lady has just told us."


    Next she''d looked at Bru and asked, "And you child.  Do you agree with your sister?"


    He''d nodded and said, "Yes Ma''am, almost. It was 11.3 seconds slow."


    I''d turned to him and said, "I knew that.  I was just rounding to the closest second Bru."


    He''d nodded, "Oh.  All right.  I guess that''s OK then."


    The next thing Master Sullivan did was blindside father.  When we were older, we understood why, after she''d taught us that old adage: "It''s easier to ask forgiveness than permission."


    She''d turned to us and asked, "Would you children like to make some pocket money?  But it will have to be  after you''ve finished your homework, or on weekends and holidays.


    "I''ll pay you to make sure that every clock is set properly before it leaves the shop.  I''ll also teach you about how to make them, if you''re interested in that."


    My memory of what we did next is still crystal clear.  We''d jumped at each other, wrapped our arms around each other, and laughed, cried, and cheered.  FINALLY.  We''d no longer have to be tortured by the clocks at home, and, hopefully, also those at school, being off all the time.


    Master Sullivan had smiled at Father.  As for him, he''d just shrugged his shoulders.  One of his best traits was that he was always quick to admit when he''d been bested.  Not that he''d ever let that keep him from trying to win the next time, which he did.


    They negotiated for a while, both about our "work hours," but mostly about our pay.  Within a few minutes Master Sullivan realized that in that particular arena it was our father who was the master.  Finally Father had asked, "Done?"


    Master Sullivan''s expression was on the sour side, but she''d replied, "Done" and stuck her hand out to be shaken.


    Bru and I were a bit worried about that look, but when she turned to us she was all smiles, "I''ll see you two on Saturday at 10:29 sharp.  So, before you leave, here..."


    She handed us a small table clock. "This one should work just fine.  You go ahead and set it, and also that wall clock by the door so that they match.  Then you take the small one home with you.  That way all three of us will know exactly when you''re to arrive."


    That elicited an excited, "Yes ma''am," and "Thank you ma''am," from the two of us.


    If father hadn''t been with us, we''d probably have run all the way home even though it was over a kilometer.  Yep, we really were that excited.


    Over the next several years Master Sullivan taught us a great deal about clocks and a great deal more about dealing with customers, whether ordinary people or the so-called "upper classes."  Her shop was right on the border between where the homes and businesses of the two groups were situated, which made her exceedingly busy.  It also was the reason why she had such a large shop with such a wide variety of clocks.


    Once we were 14 and legally allowed to quit school to begin an apprenticeship, Master Sullivan took both of us on.  It was highly unusual for a master to take on two at a time, unless they were family, but she had a reason.  On the first day she took us aside and whispered, "No way am I going to let a competitor have one of you.  I want you all to myself!"Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    We didn''t entirely understand what she meant, but we did get that she valued us for some reason.  After all the years of being told that we were barely ordinary, it was quite a ray of sunshine in our lives.


    Some masters rely on being harsh to get their apprentices to work properly.  Besides being abusive, it''s incredibly stupid.  Hearing even an occasional word of praise from Master Sullivan, or "Sully" as she insisted we call her in private, was of itself enough to make us push ourselves as hard as we possibly could.  We both made journeyman at 17, about a year earlier than most.


    It might have been sooner, but we both had a rather unfortunate tendency to want to "improve" the clocks that came in for repairs.  Equally unfortunate was that, back then, our skills were nowhere near as good as we thought they were.  Consequently Sully sat on us for an extra year until we began to at least have a glimmer of understanding of the idea that if you don''t do it the way the customer wants they may not come back.


    On the plus side, it was no time at all before we became true masters at figuring out exactly what in a clock needed to be repaired or replaced.  When they weren''t running properly it caused us an almost physical pain.  Since fixing the clock was the only way to stop the pain, well, I''m sure you can see that we were highly motivated.


    By the time we were 22 we were both masters, but, rather than opening a shop of our own, we stayed with Sully.  We liked her, she liked us, and we didn''t have to worry about little things like tracking costs and paying taxes.


    We''d left  home for good when we turned 20.  At 21 we married and our spouses joined us in our rooms on the fourth floor of the building the shop was in.  The location perfectly suited all of us.  The rent was cheap, as nobody else was willing to hike up to the fourth at the end of the day.  Master Sully lived on the second floor, and the third floor was our warehouse, which was extremely convenient.  Even more important than that was that all the buildings surrounding us had only three stories, which meant that nobody could see into our apartment.


    Bru and I had been best of friends with Elaine and Constantine Faraldo since primary school.  Elaine rapidly became Bru''s best girl friend, and Costa was my best guy friend.  That they were also twins made understanding each other that much easier.  It''s a common story I guess.  Over the years our friendships turned into love.  We talked things over, for a good long time -- several months actually -- and arrived at the only logical conclusion.


    Yes, of course we got married..  We had a civil ceremony, which was still fairly rare in those days.  We even skipped the reception part.  Our parents wanted to throw a big party, but all four of us, like so many twins in The City, didn''t do all that well with crowds, and, when we did go out, we preferred to be with a few friends at most.


    That night we had a little party for just the four of us in our sitting room.  When it was time to go to bed, I hugged and kissed Costa.  Bru hugged and kissed Elaine.  Then Elaine and I went into our room, and Bru and Costa went into theirs.  We never talked about it afterwards, but the silly looks on all of our faces the next morning made it pretty clear that none of us had been disappointed the previous night.


    By the time we were 24, business was beyond booming, in good part because we were now contracting out our services to repair clocks that were too large to bring in to the store.  Which brings us back to the job I was on.


    One thing that hadn''t changed over the centuries was that the churches competing to have the biggest and "best" bells hadn''t lost a bit of their enthusiasm even though just about the entire population of The City hated them with a passion.  Oh, yes, they''d learned to live with them, but irritated tolerance was about the most even the most enthusiastic supporters could muster.


    For reasons that have always been unclear, those actually in charge of the churches, when told of the attitude of the public as a whole, invariably ascribed it to jealousy.  There have been a goodly number of scholars over the centuries who, having studied the phenomenon, concluded that the reason for such delusions was actually rather simple.


    There was an inverse linear relationship between the thickness of the walls of a church and the strength of the delusion.  In other words those most supportive of ringing the bells as loudly as they could were those whose brains had been addled the most by the sound.  Since they functioned reasonably well when discussing any other topic, they couldn''t be removed and replaced by other priests who were more rational.  This was probably because the priests whose brains actually functioned the best tended to either leave The City entirely, or join the churches with the best protection, such as The Church of the Placid Heart with its two meter thick walls and multi-layered shield spell.


    The priests who had managed to finagle assignments to churches that focused on quiet and contemplation tended to be extremely attentive to the needs of the parishioners.  They knew that there were many other clergy desperately waiting in the wings to take their places if their performance of their duties was lacking.


    Word of how well they took care of the members of their parishes resulted in a constant influx of new members, which meant a need for more priests and so on.  Over the past 200 years, all such churches had become extremely wealthy, which of course meant more money spent on charitable works, which meant more donations, more members, more priests, etc.  Placid Heart began its own seminary 117 years ago.


    Anyway, so here I was, tuning up the clock that controlled the mechanism that rang the bell of yet another church controlled by someone who wasn''t quite right in the head.  For myself it didn''t matter much.  It wasn''t my church.  Sure Bru and I had tried several times to get out of working at the ones where those in charge were the craziest.  We''d doubled, then tripled what we charged, all to no avail.  For some reason their delusion was broad enough that they''d all decided that higher fees meant "better tuning," and they paid our newly inflated bills without making even a minimal effort to dicker with us.


    Finally we just gave up and did the work as quickly and as accurately as possible.  (As if there were anything else we could do if we didn''t want to go nuts from hearing the bells go off at the wrong time.)  Then we hurried to the next job.  Between us we managed to synchronize every bell in town once a year.  The rest of the time we devoted ourselves to making and repairing clocks that were as accurate as possible.


    After three years of experimentation, we''d developed a new type of mechanism that was accurate to within one minute every three to four days and would fit in a small clock casing.  It wasn''t perfect, but it took care of the frayed nerves we developed when we were around clocks that were significantly off.


    Anyone with our new clocks could set them by the chimes of whichever churches were allowed to ring the hours on non-Festa days, which was the major reason we kept the church contracts.  If their time was right, then the time of most of the rest of the clocks in the city was right, and we were a lot less irritated and irritable.


    It was after we''d finally sorted that out that we discovered one group that valued the correct time as much as we did.   Or, I guess I should say two groups, perhaps three, maybe four?  Oh hell, whatever....


    What it came down to is that we discovered that our "worthless" talent wasn''t so worthless after all.  The first businesses to come calling were the coach companies, and along with them the inns and hostels along the King''s Highways.  Next it was the army.  Once a few of our clocks hit the docks, things really took off.  We had orders by the dozens from the navy.


    Neither of us had ever thought of it, but, hey, The City is landlocked and over a hundred kilometers from the nearest seaport.  I''m not much for geography, but for reasons I still don''t understand, if you don''t have the accurate time, you can''t tell how far east, or west, you are when you''re at sea.  Though I have no idea of what the mathematics involved are, I do understand that things might be a bit rough if you wanted to go to Tunis and ended up in Algiers instead.


    The money was nice, to be sure, but, for the two of us, what was more important than anything  was the vindication.  Our talent wasn''t worthless.  Not only that, we were making a LOT more money than a certain horse breeder who used to torment us.  I haven''t seen that particular person lately, maybe ''cause they''re hiding from us.  But if I DO, I''m not going to be all that subtle about rubbing her nose in it.


    (Yeah, it''s petty, but it''ll be worth it, at least once.  Ok, maybe twice, but no more than that.  I promise!)


    Things flowed along nicely for a few years, but then we started talking about maybe having children.  All of us loved them to distraction, but obviously the way things were it wasn''t possible.  Fortunately our logic and our hearts lead to the same conclusion.  All four of us loved each other, very much.  We decided that we would have children.  The biological parents would be our wedded spouses.  After that, we''d raise them together.


    Emily and I would be "mom" to all of them, and Costa and Bru would be "dad."   We figured that by the time they were old enough to understand that we weren''t like most other families, the kids would be mature enough not to talk about how we dealt with our family life.


    It helped a lot that Emily was an artist and Costa was a sculptor, which meant that both of them worked at home.  That way there were always two of us home for the kids, plus whoever was in the shop that day could run upstairs at lunchtime or if there were a problem.  Otherwise when Bru and I got home, we spelled the others.


    To tell the truth, that''s about all there is to it.  We lived quiet lives and enjoyed not only our children but also our grandchildren.  The only trouble we ever had with other citizens of The City was when some of them found out that we were the ones who tuned the bells so they''d strike at exactly the same time.  Fortunately all they ever did was cuss at us a bit.


    What really surprised us was that whenever there was a group cussing us out, there''d be other people who''d start arguing with them, saying that they actually liked the way the bells were synchronized, and did the complainers really want the torture spread out over a longer period of time like it would be if some rang later than the rest?


    Oh?  Some of you think we should have broken up the arguments?


    Whatever for?  They were having a great deal of fun. Some of them made sure that they''d be near the shop several times a month, just in case a chance to "get in on the fun" came up.


    Virtual head shaking here.  Still, a life without family and friends is pretty empty, isn''t it?

 An Interview With Professor Ptica

    A Conversation With Professor Ptica


    An episode of The OB Presents


    Thank you Professor for giving us some of your valuable time.


    It''s not like I had any choice.  When the head office says "jump" you jump.  Hopefully not out of the frying pan into the fire, so to speak.


    That''s very amusing Professor.  Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?


    Mind?  Of course I mind!  I''m busy, overworked, and under-rested.  However I know that we have to do this.  Let''s get started so we can finish up and I can get back to something constructive.


    Uh..well...yes, indeed.  First of all, when you were discussing the time period of The Founding, your presentation used feet,  yards, and rods as units of measure, but later on  you used meters and kilometers.  Will you tell us why?


    It wasn''t me who used them, it was Emil et. al. who did.  To tell the truth what Emil actually used in his mind to measure distance was a percha.  It was changed to feet, yards, and rods as it is highly unlikely that any student would have even the faintest idea of what a percha was.   The idea of a meter hadn''t been invented yet when they were alive.  That was several hundred years later, thus the change in the units used in the time of Sara and Paolo.


    Well then, let''s continue.  Since you''re incredibly busy, I''ll just skip to the more interesting questions, if that''s all right?


    Of course it is, I already...  Oh. Never mind.  Just get on with it.


    Yessir.  There''s the matter of Blair Macklin teasing her husband about his being fooled by Paolo''s "persona".  Would you elaborate?


    That''s another fairly obvious one, but, oh well.  Hiroshi Macklin was the King''s spymaster for all foreign operations.  He was supposed to be incredibly smart and incredibly sneaky.  His failure to correctly interpret what was right under his nose, so to speak, provided his wife with a superb comeback for many years.  She occasionally made a mistake too.   Thus it was "nice" for her to have something to throw back at him when he teased her about such errors.


    Mention is made of Hibiki and Yoko Macklin, when at the Registrar''s Office, sitting with their "heads together".  It has been pointed out that, since they were telepathic with each other, they had no need to do so, yet they did.  Please tell us why.


    That is not a stupid question, but rather one that shows some thought, at least if it was asked by someone from one of the hard sciences.  If it was someone from social sciences, they need to go back to their freshman year and start over.


    It is abundantly clear, no, let''s back up a bit.  I might as well be a bit more thorough this time.


    It has been stated, many times during the presentations, that twins in the City are different.  None of them can long be separated by a substantial distance from their twin without becoming ill, or worse.   A small percentage cannot be separated by more than a few hundred meters for more than a few hours without the same effect.


    Interestingly this is not a "bell shaped curve" but neither is it linear.  The line from those who can tolerate a separation of more than a hundred kilometers for a week at a time, to those who need to be within a hundred meters for at least 20 hours a day might best be described as as bumpy as a cobblestone street.


    Given that background, we can say that the Macklin twins definitely were on the short distance side of the line.  They didn''t need to be touching to communicate.  They needed to touch for reassurance.  Part of it seems to be related to the fact that over half of all twins born in The City had/have some degree of agoraphobia.


    The Registrar''s Office was a busy, crowded place.  Sitting together helped them control their anxiety.


    Oh. I see!  Thank you very much Professor!  To tell the truth, I was curious about that myself.  (I suppose I should say that my own degree is in chemical engineering.)


    Next I have a question that was asked by a fairly large number of our viewers.  Rachel Bulambo manipulated a great number of people''s minds in order to make sure that Raven and Johann were married three months before Lady Blue had originally planned for the marriage to take place.  Would  you elaborate please?


    If you put it into the context of the times, it was absolutely necessary.  We know that due to Lily''s sterility Raven became pregnant the night she returned home rather than Lily, as had originally been planned.  Were it not for that, Raven and Joahnn being married three months later would not have been a problem.  I think that it should be obvious why that date was required for the conception.  Count Augustine''s son wouldn''t have met Rosalie and Bernadette Kastner had their birthday party been a single day sooner or later.  Now imagine what would have happened had the Count discovered that Raven had been three months into her pregnancy when she married Johann.


    There is no way in the world that someone as highly ranked as a count would have allowed his son to marry children conceived out of wedlock.  The idea of marrying twins almost of itself "put the kibosh" on the marriage.  Had the out of wedlock card also been present, there was no way it could have occurred.  And that would have meant no Miranda to marry Richard Donetti, thus no Paolo, or Eugenia, etc.


    Now, concerning your story about Freya and Bruno.  Mention is made of clocks being exquisitely accurate.  On Earth IV at that time, a really good clock would be accurate only to about 10 minutes a day, yet even in the beginning of their tale, the clocks were accurate to within a minute.  Would you elaborate please?


    Your question contains the answer.  Consider WHERE they lived.  Because of The City of The Bells, society had been much more stable as a whole than on any other Earth.  That''s the reason that clocks, medicine, and engineering, etc., were significantly advanced over any of the other Earths.


    Of course, things were, and are, driven by exceptional individuals who crop up on each inhabited planet in the ''verses.  The City also had Jason Fukui who developed the idea and mathematics of gravitational attraction to explain the motion of the planets almost three hundred years before Isaac Newton did so on the other Earths.  Interestingly enough an Albert Einstein came up with the ideas of Special Relativity and General Relativity on all the Earths, but it was over 170 years earlier on that particular planet.


    There''s one other question concerning information from your supplementary classes.  In them we are informed that Archbishop Comfort was Miranda''s magery teacher.  However, in App Soc VII Miranda referred to her teacher as a male.  Will you explain please?


    If you think about her personality, the answer is obvious.  By the time she had been working for the Duchess for several years, she began to fhink that it was somehow unethical to tell the full truth about anything unless it was absolutely necessary.  Thus her deception about her master''s gender, even when discussing things with her closest friend.  You could truthfully say (pun intended) that it was automatic.


    There have also been a number of questions about Sara''s sudden change of behavior in the months prior to Mario and Eugenia leaving on their first mission.  In particular, a number of beings don''t understand how it was that she was suddenly able to be more forceful in her dealings with Miranda and the others.  One bit in particular seems to have ''confused'' some of our viewers.  Let me see...where is it?  Oh yes, here.


    When she was reassuring Eugenia that Miranda, Hiroshi, and Blair would not interfere with Genie''s goal of doing well in the City Exams she said, "They won''t dare after I''m finished with them."  Would you please elaborate.


    Indeed  yes.  A worthy question that one...for a change.  What many beings don''t understand even now is that "Sara" has always had an exceptionally forceful personality, perhaps even moreso than Miranda and Blair.  We all know how Blair managed to maneuver people into going along with her without them realizing it, and Miranda essentially overwhelmed those she wanted to do things for her.  Sara excelled at both. Even so, the primary difference is that she was far better at concealing the fact that those she wanted to do things were being manipulated at all.


    Had any of the others objected to what she had decided regarding Genie, she intended to, oh, what''s the phrase?  I believe it is, "take off her gloves" and let the others know exactly where everyone stood.  Had she done so, the others had about as much chance of opposing her as a snowflake does of resisting the sun in a desert.


    Ahem...  Yes.  Just two more questions if you will please.  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    "Lady Blue" was reviewing events, attempting to ascertain who or what had manipulated the memories of the people of the city -- with regard to the marriage of Raven and Johann.  Let me get the wording exactly...just a moment.   Ah yes, there.


    She said, "Dwelling on an unchangable past was futile."


    Wasn''t the entire idea of the Temporal Engineers to change the past, or at least create a different one?  In reviewing the recording of your most recent class, I recall your taking a physics major to task regarding the splinter universe hypothesis.


    "Before I answer that, I need to ask you something.  Will this interview be shown to new hires, or will it be restricted to those with higher clearances?"


    Yes to both questions.  That''s why these last two questions are the last two.  I''m informed that I need to edit the interview just before this point so it can be shown in basic training.  The answers, and, for that matter, the knowledge that these final questions even exist, will be restricted.  I haven''t been informed of the level.  It must include mine, since I couldn''t ask them if I weren''t allowed to hear the answers.


    I see.  And how long have you been with the OB?


    49 years Professor.  I know I''m a relatively new staff member, but I can assure you of my silence regarding any classified information you may reveal.


    (Ptica glanced at the monitor on her desk.  The being there nodded.)


    "Very well young lady,  I''ll tell you.  The answer is fairly straightforward.  What we discussed was hogwash.  Pure, unadulterated idiocy.  I took advantage of the fact that, while Camir was studying physics, he couldn''t possibly have yet learned that the idea of universes splitting off when the past is changed is impossible.


    "Nobody, not even Lady Blue, can change the past.  The past is the past.  Thus the statement that you quoted is correct.  In fact the existence of the Temporal Engineers was her fabrication.   Think about it.  If you can''t change the past, how could you arrange such an "experiment" as the City?


    If you look at the introduction to App. Soc. VIII, you''ll see that I mentioned the "ostensible" cause of the founding of The City.


    Ah. I see.  A very broad hint indeed.  Then the actual reason for the founding of The City was...?


    "As to that, the entire reason for The City to....


    (Out of the corner of her eye, Ptica saw the being in the monitor shake its head.)


    "Apologies. I''ve been informed that your security clearance is not high enough for you to hear the explanation."


    As he looked at her he saw frustration and a bit of anger in her eyes.


    "I will tell you that it is not because you''re not trusted that I cannot give you the answer, at least not right now."


    His eyes shifted to the monitor again. Some text had appeared on the screen.


    "You''ll need to advance two grades before I, or anyone else who knows, can fill you in on the particulars.  While you may be fairly new with the OB, you''ve surely been with us long enough to know that that''s the way some things are, right?"


    She nodded, slowly, but showing acceptance.


    Yes Professor.  I can appreciate that.  I don''t like it, but as you say, that''s irrelevant.  What I can do is work very hard to get those two grades though.


    Well then, the final question.  After Hiroshi and Sara have discussed her winnings after the graduation exams, she mentions that they (assuming that she meant herself and Paolo) would need a much larger sum of money to accomplish a certain goal.  Can you tell us what that was about?


    Ptica combed her crest feathers with her left true-hand.  "Unfortunately I''m not able to answer that question either, and it''s not because you have an inadequate security clearance.  I don''t know the answer myself.  I''m told that even my security clearance is "much too low" for me to be entrusted with that information.  Like many others, I had originally assumed that it was something related to their project to improve the lot of twins in The City, which required substantial funds.


    However, I now know that that was only the beginning of...well...whatever it was.  The only thing I have been told, which, to be candid, irritates me as much as my refusal to answer your previous question is probably irritating you is this:  The program to aid twins that they eventually put into motion required less than 3% of the funds they eventually expended on...whatever it was.


    "I assume that I may someday discover or be informed of the answer, or perhaps not.  We shall see in the fullness of time.  However, since there is still a security lockdown on this particular topic today, nearly 1200 years later, I suspect that there is some part of that particular project that is ongoing.  As to what it might be, well, they can''t stop us from wondering, right?


    "By the way, what is your name?  Perhaps we shall encounter each other again.  If so, it would be most impolite to hail you by shouting, ''Hey you!'', not to mention the damage I might cause if I were to do so in a crowded area."


    She carefully stowed her recording apparatus, made sure that the security locks were sealed, then straightened and smiled, "I''m known as Afrara to most species.  Even some of my own have trouble pronouncing my true name."


    Picking up her bag, Afrara began to turn, then put it back down and once again faced the professor.  "Actually I have a question of my own.  Why did Lady Blue bounce around like that when she discovered that Jason could speak to the twins with his mind?"


    She hastened to add, "I don''t mean why she said what she did.  If the other things are classified above my level, that must be at even a higher level.  What I mean is, why did she bounce like that?"


    Ptica made an emphatic "hush" gesture.  She walked over to Afrara, stretched out a wing, and touched her arm lightly.  Then she took her into No-Time.


    Afrara was shocked to see that, rather than a formless space with no definite borders, which was what she was familiar with, they appeared to be in an office.  It was one that looked much used and much more comfortable that the professor''s office at the university.


    While Afrara tried to take everything in, the professor hurried around the office, throwing this switch, and turning that dial.  Then she set out three of the most complex scrambling devices Afrara had ever seen and connected them in a series, so as to magnify their effects.  Just one would have cost her three or four years salary.


    The professor grinned at her surprise.  "There is no security level needed to hear the answer to that particular question.  It''s been asked before, and probably will be many times again.  However you should NEVER answer anyone who asks it of YOU.   At least not till you have a space similar to this.


    "That being has an exquisite way of picking it up when beings talk about her.  It doesn''t appear that she hears everything, but I don''t want to take the chance that she might hear what I''m about to say.  She also has a reputation of being just a bit touchy now and then.  I''d rather not ever have her mad at me, and, since I can''t predict how she''d react, a few precautions seem to be indicated."


    Ptica took a deep breath and said, very quickly but distinctly, "She bounces like that because, although she is known to be several tens of thousands of years old, she has an incredibly childish streak.  Also her sense of humor is very very low, if you take my meaning.  Were she to hear you talking about her like that, well, I don''t think you''d like the consequences.


    "Oh, when we get back, go ahead and ask me something else.  It doesn''t even need to be particularly coherent.  I just don''t want anyone to suspect that we were ''elsewhere''."


    She bustled around again, disassembling the scrambler connection, then turning off everything she''d just turned on.  She did a quick visual check of the area then took them back to "now".


    There is just one other thing Professor, a matter of style rather than content if you will.  I find the teaching profession most interesting, especially considering how many varied techniques are used by those of various species and temperaments.


    "Yes, yes, get on with it."


    I''ve studied the recordings of your introductory remarks from a number of years when  you taught AS VII.  What piqued my interest is that in all five of those I scanned, you said essentially the same thing when explaining why modern terms were used.  You didn''t want to have to translate from "two different dialects of ancient Italian."


    "Yes, and your point, if you have one, is what?"


    All classes are taught entirely in Multi, and all dialogue in videos is dubbed into Multi as well.  There was no need to mention anything other than that some terms were not historically accurate and were modern equivalents used to make the dialogue less awkward.  The only reason I can see for you using that particular phrase every time you teach that particular class would be to start your students thinking about the inconsistencies in the presentations.  Those few words would seem to be the underlying "seed" that blossomed into groups forming to investigate what was really going on.


    Afrara looked at Ptica with an expression that was, almost, challenging.


    Ptica nodded.  "An interesting idea.  Thank you for coming Afrara.  It wasn''t entirely a waste of my time.  Goodbye."


    Ptica turned her back and resumed whatever it was she''d been doing when Afrara arrived.  Afrara shrugged, took herself out of the office, then carefully closed the door.


    Once she''d sealed the office and checked her scramblers, Ptica turned once again to the being she''d communicated with during the "interview."


    "This one was more interesting than most of the others.  I wonder how many of them have realized that the primary purpose of these ''interviews'' is to have someone who is not directly a superior review their performance.  I suspect that by the time Grgur has finished with her she will have come to some ''interesting'' conclusions."


    "You may well be correct Ptica, though I''ll wager that she never says a word about her suspicions to anyone else."


    "You''re probably right.  Even so I intend to follow her career from here on.  At the very least, it should be entertaining."


    She paused and combed her crest feathers.  "It''s too bad that we won''t know, but I also wonder when she''s going to start to ask herself why her final questions were on the approved list when there was no possibility that they were going to be answered."


    With that said, they said their good-byes and turned to other tasks.  Like everyone else in the OB, they always had more pending work than any being could keep ahead of.  Both of them secretly hoped that they were at least adequately treading water.


    On her way back to her office, Afrara decided that she''d edit the interview into three different  forms before she submitted them for approval.  As for what she''d just heard about Lady Blue, she wasn''t even going to record it in her archaic paper diary.  Rather, she would imprint it in her memory so she could pull it up whenever she so desired.


    Over the next 80 or so years, whenever things got excessively tense, she could sometimes be heard laughing like a maniac for no obvious reason.  Her subordinates assumed that it was some odd quirk of her species, or that she''d finally lost it, just like every other supervisor did eventually.  Either way they were much too busy to be concerned about the source of her weirdness and went back to their work.


    Once she''d de-stressed enough, she would invariably mutter, "Thank you," then smile and dive back into whatever situation was going on.  Because of that, she never heard the faint replies of: "You''re welcome."

 Portals and Blinking - An Explanation

    Portals and Blinking


    Portals have been in general use for over 2,800 years.  Even with many species having lifespans substantially longer than that, they have been around long enough that almost everyone takes them for granted.  They''re just "there," in the same way as digital assistants, satellite communications, and the metanet.


    Today we will discuss the nature of portals and, by extension, what differentiates them from blinking.


    Quiet!  One thing I have never understood is why students, when presented with a new concept, always turn to each other to ask what it is.  Frankly it is extremely insulting to your professors.  Not to mention that it makes me think that all of you are significantly lacking in intelligence.  If you had any, you''d either wait for me to tell you, or, if you''re a species that made a name for itself by being unbelievably impatient, you''d ask me instead of a seatmate.


    Now, settle down, be silent, and stop fidgeting.  If you don''t, I may eat one of you for lunch instead of whatever vaguely edible food the cafeteria has today.  Am I understood?


    Very well. Now, to proceed.  First - portals vs. blinking.


    Portals are means of transporting oneself, others, and things from one place to another. On average, for most species, one being out of 10,000 is capable of porting.  Of those, even now, about 1/3 never realize that they have the potential.


    Blinking is a means of transporting oneself, and whatever one is wearing or carrying, from one place to another.  The one exception is when the being blinking is careless, in which case some few cubic meters of the atmosphere surrounding them at the time they blink may be transported with them.


    Portals may be kept "open" for as long as the being who creates them desires - the only constraint being how much energy they are able to put into the effort.


    When one blinks, one leaves "here" and arrives "there," instantaneously.


    One reason why most of you are unfamiliar with blinking is that it is inherent in only two species, those known as "dragons" and "wyverns."  No other species contacted thus far in any of the five Milky Way galaxies in our ''verse cluster has that particular ability.


    The other, and primary, reason is that no scientist has a clue as to how those beings manage to blink in the first place.  There is no measurable time that passes during the procedure.  By "measurable" I mean instruments calibrated to the nearest femtosecond.  Anyone wanting to study blinking has been unable to devise a means of so doing, so all but sporadic efforts ceased over a millennium ago.


    Portals, fortunately, proved to be relatively easy to study.  The average being creating a portal can leave it open for at least several minutes without significant stress.  Even so, it took over 80 years for scientists to discover what it was that they needed to measure.  After that it took approximately 50 more years to build equipment that could perform said measurements accurately and repeatedly.  Once that was done, it took another 283 years to build the first, short-range device that could safely replicate a portal.  Portals as we know them today, required several hundred additional years of research, building, and testing.  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Fortunately, unlike similar devices dreamed up by science fiction writers in the past, portals are not linked to each other, and a mechanical failure of one only affects the portal in question.  Some worlds have only one active portal.  Still, should it fail, it could cause significant effects upon that world and whichever other worlds the portal connects to.


    As a precaution, there are two complete sets of spare parts kept several kilometers away from every permanent portal.  In addition, it is required that a technician capable of building a portal from said parts be on each world 24/7.


    Given that Murphy likes to bite one on one''s backside now and then, once a new portal is built, at least five beings who can create portals visit the site and memorize it.  That way, even in a disaster, access to that portal location is not lost.


    Speaking of disasters, whenever possible all planetary disaster teams have several beings capable of creating portals.  On the surface, these beings would seem to spend 90% of their time on "vacation."  The reality is that they travel constantly, seeking out and memorizing sites where portals may be safely set up should a disaster happen.  Once that is done, they contact their peers, open a portal, and all of them who are free step through and memorize the new site.


    The work is physically and mentally exhausting.  Once the new site is recorded and tested, they need several days of rest before moving on to the next.  Thus they appear to be vacationing.  A good disaster "portist" is a rare commodity.  No employer nowadays would even think of overworking one.


    (Some did in the past, but, given their talents, the portist in question always ported elsewhere and found a more congenial job.  Loss of the portist usually resulted in their previous boss losing their jobs.  Now, if only due to self-interest, portists are treated exceedingly well by their employers.)


    Now we''ll move on to blinking.  As I''m sure you have already imagined, there are times when disasters occur where no portist has ever visited.  The answer to that is blinking.  As I stated before, beings who can blink can also transport whatever they can carry with them, up to a point.  The absolute maximum mass they move cannot be more than 1/3 of their body mass, and 1/10 or less is preferred.  Beyond that they either fail when they try to blink, or they become exhausted and are unable to move, much less blink again, for as much as a week.


    Said carrying capacity is relevant as those beings can, given accurate coordinates, see what is at their destinations before they blink.


    There are two other pertinent facts.


    One:  Temporary mechanical portals have been made that can be carried on one''s person.  They have only enough power to last a few minutes, their range is limited to 6,900 kilometers, and they can only transport only one being at a time.


    Two:  Dragons and wyverns can fly.


    Once they blink to their destination, they can take to the air and find the best nearby location at which to establish a portal.  Once they do, they set up the temporary portal that they are carrying, a being who can self-generate portals steps through, and they create their own portal.  Then the staff and equipment to construct a semi-permanent portal pass through.  While they''re building it, as many of the  disaster response team as possible use the two existing portals and  get down to business.


    There are a very few, approximately one in 100,000, dragons and wyverns who can both blink and create portals.  Needless to say, the fees they charge are extraordinarily high.  They are also worth every penny.


    That''s all for now.  It''s lunch time, and I''m hungry.  Since you have, mostly, behaved since my warning, I''ll partake of lunch at the cafeteria, at least today.  Good day to you.

 Concordance of Beings In the Previous Volumes

    Abbott, Annapurna


    Born 694 AF.  She became a teacher and has specialized in the difficult job of transitioning students from the seven years of primary school to the six years of higher education.  When not engaged in her Homeroom duties, she also teaches Cultural Awareness. (How to interact with those in The City with different cultural and religious backgrounds.)  She was the homeroom teacher at Chapman School for Sara, Yoko, and Hibiki Macklin, as well as Jason Fukui.


    Abelli, Wasim (Count)


    Noble whose entire northern border abutted a large part of Duke Alphonse''s southern border.  They were good friends and worked together to prevent Southern interests from making inroads on their lands.  Once Abigail became Duchess Abigail, she continued to support Count Abelli.


    Acciai, Hugh


    Employed by Genie and Mario Brown on their first book expedition.  An expert with any equine animal and an accomplished swordsman.  Married to Thea.


    Acciai, Thea


    Employed by Genie and Mario Brown on their first book expedition.  An expert archer.  Married to Hugh.


    Ashford, Alicia


    Born in The Year 02 BF, she is 13 when Carline and Alphonso are married.  (Contrary to Baron Rinaldi''s estimate that she was 12.)  It is unknown why she and her younger brother Carlos were sent with Carline.  Surviving records show that both remained in The City for the remainder of their lives.  It is known that they married locals and raised families.  Unfortunately no further details are available.


    Ashford (Bulambo), Carline


    Born in The Year 04 BF, she was 15 when she married Duke Alphonso Bulambo in the spring of The Year 12 AF.  Her exact birthdate has not been recorded, but it is known that she was born in the fall.  She was the eldest daughter of Count Ennius Ashford of Milan.


    She was a brilliant financier and was in large part responsible for the financial stability of The City in its early years.


    She bore three children, the fraternal twins Abigail and Pasquale, and three years later, another daughter Rachel. She and the duke adopted Raven in The Year 33 AF after Raven''s parents died.


    She herself died of pneumonia, two years after contracting an unknown pestilence, on June 25 in The Year 47 AF at age 51.


    Carline is derived from the Latin, and means "free man".  It was remarked by many that her name suited her perfectly.  She never let anything hold her back.


    Ashford, Carlos


    Born in The Year of The Founding.  Younger brother of Carline.  He was 11 when Carline and Alphonso were married.  His birth date was some time in June.


    Ashanti, Lily


    Born in the Year 36 AF to Rachel and Niko.  Married Johann Kastner who later also married Raven.  An innovative, master herbalist, some of whose recipes were still being used 700 years later.


    Ashanti, Nico


    Age uncertain. Master stonemason. Father of Lily.


    Augustine, Phillip (Count)


    He had a large estate northwest of Venice where he produced wine and horses.  He was an avid horseman and arranged with Duchess Abigail to crossbreed their lines, which resulted in a superior calvary mount.  Both profited greatly from the arrangement.


    Augustine, Rupert


    Born in the Year 55 AF.  Fourth son of Count Phillip Augustine.


    Meets Raven and Johann''s eldest twins, Aradia and Carline, at their 12th birthday party at the Ducal Residence.  He and his father were there for the one day, while his father finalized a business agreement with the duchess.  Four years later, in the Year 76 AF, he returned to The City permanently and married the twins.


    Baris, Sera


    A "friend" of Freya and Bruno MacOwen''s, her gift was the ability to always match stud to mare so as to produce the best foal.


    Bjornson, Personal name unknown


    Armsmaster for Duke Alphonse from the Year 19 AF until his retirement in 43 AF.  For reasons unknown, he never revealed his full name to anyone.  For decades there was a rumor that he didn''t remember it, but as the rumor seemed to originate among his trainees, it was discounted.


    Research conducted after his death revealed the real reason he concealed his name.  It was "Maurice."  His diary contained his reasoning, being that nobody would take an armsmaster seriously if they knew that his name was Maurice Bjornson.  Maybe he was right, though I think that anyone in their right mind wouldn''t care about the name of someone who could still fight with, and win, against any three of the Guard when he was 45 years old.


    Braun, Ulysses


    A quack masquerading as a physician.  Several patients had suffered significant harm as a result of his reckless "treatments".  Arrested and jailed in the Year 724 AF.  After his conviction, he spent the rest of his life on the road crews.


    Brown, Mario


    Age 16 when we meet him in AF 719.  He was a newly minted journeyman being trained by Aldus Ringvold.   "Mario" is a later Italian version of "Mars" the Roman god of war.  He is recruited by Miranda Donetti as an informant the first time he visited The City.  In 724 he met and married Eugenia Donetti.


    On his mother''s side his ancestors were mostly Greek.  His father''s ancestry is unknown.


    Bulambo, Abigail Hortense (Duchess)


    Born August 03, in The Year 16 AF.  From the age of 17 she was a trusted confident of her parents.  When her father, Duke Alphonse, relinquished his power to her in the year 55, she was a tried and skilled manager of her domain.  Married Carlo Garibaldi May 12, in The Year 36 AF.  She began the custom of all females in the line keeping "Bulambo" as their surname.


    Bulambo, Albert Luigi


    Born in the summer of The Year 40 AF.  As a result of "bad company" he developed a "holier than thou" attitude toward the "common rabble" and felt that he, and all nobles were a superior species.  In the Year 56 AF he learned differently at the hands of Staff Master Johann Kastner, Armsmaster Deliah Stockholder, and his mother Abigail.  Somewhat to everyone''s surprise, when he became Duke in the Year 82 AF he expended a great deal of his time working for the betterment of the people of The City.  At his death in 102 AF, he was widely mourned..


    Bulambo, Alexius


    Born in Rome in The Year 39 Before the Founding.  His father was an immigrant from Africa.  Alexius was named heir after his father had saved the monarchy and married the current king''s daughter. (He had no surviving sons.)


    Bulambo, Alphonse Alexius (Duke)


    Born in the Year 659 AF.  Father of Henrietta.  Named after his ancestor Alphonse Joseph Alexius, the first Duke of The City, and Alphonse Joseph''s father, the first in the family to be King of Italy.  Turned control of the Duchy over to Henrietta when she became 35.  Since then he has focused his efforts in the political realm, both in public and behind the scenes.  His personal spy network is still active and highly efficient.


    Bulambo, Alphonse Joseph (Duke)


    The third son of Ignatius Bulambo, King of The Italian Confederation.  Alphonse was born in the year 10 BF on July 8th.  Made Duke Alphonse in the year 06 AF, he arrived the next spring at what eventually became The City of The Bells.  He was 21 when he married Carline Ashford on April 17, in the Year 12 AF.  He died in the year 63 AF at age 73 on April 18th.  He transferred all power to Abigail in the year 55 AF.


    Bulambo, Giovanni (Duke)


    In the Year 270 AF, he regulated the use of bells by the churches of The City.  Two years later, he implemented the Festa plan that has been used ever since.


    Bulambo, Henri Joseph Ignatz


    Born August 12 in The Year 703 AF.  Eldest child of Henrietta and Ugne. Like his predecessors, he began recruiting a team of advisors in his late teens.  The first two were Sara and Paolo Donetti, in early 722 AF.


    Bulambo, Henrietta Dorothea Jeanette (Duchess)


    Born in The Year 680 AF. Daughter of Alphonse Ignatius.  One of the most dynamic of those to occupy her position for over 300 years.  Instigator or supporter of numerous reforms that were of great benefit to The City and its people.


    Married Ugne "Bobby" Murray.  They had five biological children.  (Henri and his four younger sisters.)  They adopted the four boys rescued from Metz, France by Eugenia and Mario Brown, who were part of Mattie Voclain''s "wing."  At the time, they joked about the boys eventually marrying their daughters.  Much to their surprise, three of them did.  The fourth, Nicolas, married Flora and Isobel Segreti.


    Their fourth daughter, Gerel, married Robert Macklin on June 12, 737 AF.  She was 21 and he was 19.


    Bulambo, Ignatius Alexius Tusajigwe (King)


    Born in Rome in the year 38 BF.  His father was Tusajigwe Bulambo.  Alphonse Joseph was his youngest son.  Alphonse''s older brothers Paul and Moses were born in 15 BF and 13 BF respectively.  Paul became King.  Once Paul had two children, Moses entered the priesthood. that being his lifelong ambition, and ended his life as Archbishop of Bari.


    Bulambo, Melissa


    Born approximately in the Year 33 AF.  Daughter of Pasquale.  The eldest of five (?) children.


    Bulambo, Pasquale (Baron)


    Born August 03, in the Year 16 AF.  Adviser to, first, his parents; then later his older sister Abigail.  His brilliance in the area of finance has rarely been matched since.  His skill is widely attributed to what would today be called "good genes" which he inherited from his mother Carline.  In reality it was likely a combination of hard work and excellent instruction by his mother while she was still living.


    Bulambo, Robert Francis Ignatz (Duke)


    Oversaw the final "construction" of the Ring Park.  He was responsible for its layout and is still remembered for his foresight.


    Bulambo, Roberto Tusajigwe


    Born August 12 in The Year 726 AF, his birth was a shock to everyone in the family as it had been presumed that Henrietta had become infertile years earlier.  The actuality was that she had been so stressed that her hormones were out of balance.  After the boys from Metz were adopted, she finally delegated tasks that didn''t truly need her direct supervision.  The reduced stress, combined with having more private time with her husband, resulted in the pleasant surprise of Roberto''s birth.


    Even in his early years, he specialized in acting like a spoiled, party-loving, weak-willed sponge on the family.  As a consequence, he became a highly effective spy, first for Miranda, and later on, Sara.  In his free time, he studied engineering.  He designed several buildings, and not a few bridges while  using a pseudonym.


    Bulambo, Tusajigwe (Count)


    Tusajigwe emigrated to Italy as a young man from what is now Ethiopia.  The true reason for his coming to Italy is unknown, though rampant speculation at the time centered on the idea that he was a high ranking member of the nobility who had fled as the result of a "palace revolt."  It is certain that shortly after his arrival he became a trusted advisor of the king and approximately seven years later was made Count Bulambo and married the king''s oldest daughter Penelope.


    Three years later, the king''s only son died while on an expedition to eradicate pirates based in Sicily.  Tusajigwe managed to stop an attempt by the King''s cousin to put HIS son on the throne. In gratitude the King offered to make Tusajigwe his successor.  He declined, declaring that his purpose in life was to serve the king, not to become one.  Upon seeing how firm Tusajigwe''s resolve was, the King named Ignatius, Tusajigwe''s infant son, as his successor.


    When the king died, Tusajigwe served as his son''s regent for 11 years until he attained his majority, then stepped aside.  He served as his son''s chief advisor for the next seven years, until his own death in the Year 07 BF.


    Tusajigwe is an odd name with, apparently, multiple meanings, depending on the country of origin.  For our purposes, assume that it means "quiet warrior".  Some sources consider this a girl''s name, which, at least here, is definitely not the case.


    Chandler, Pari


    School nurse at the Chapman School.


    Chastain, Madeline


    Newly appointed Senior Journeyman trader as of 719 AF.  Aldus Ringvold''s trainee prior to Mario Brown.


    Childers, Guillermo (Baron)


    Lord of a very minor holding in the north of Italy consisting of mostly woodlands and scrub.  Lifelong enemy of Baron Jeffries due to a certain humiliating incident when they were 11.  Killed by falling off his horse at the time of the celestial incident that resulted in The Founding.


    Childers (Liakos), Philipa


    Born approximately in the Year 24 BF.  She was the maid of Aradia Jeffries.  She married William Childers on the Day of The Founding.  She and her husband were primarily responsible for planning the layout of The City  It was she who insisted, vehemently, that The City should become known as the source of the best horses in Northern Italy.  Until her death in AF 28 at age 54 she devoted most of her time to accomplishing that dream.  After her death, others followed the plan outlined in her diaries, with the result that in the 700''s AF, horses, mules, and donkeys bred in The CIty were widely acknowledged as the best in all of Europe.


    Philipa means "lover of horses".


    Childers, William


    Born in the Year 17 Before the Founding.  Son of Baron Childers, he was a visionary who, along with his wife Philipa, was responsible for planning the initial layout of The City and guiding its early growth.  He died in AF 32 at age 49.


    Cumberland, Thomas (Archbishop)


    Born approximately in the Year 671 AF.  One of the two archbishops serving in The City.  He was a confirmed bachelor devoted to the Church.


    Constantine, Terza


    Born in The City on July 11, in The Year 703 AF.  Hired as a maid by Anna and Richard Donetti to help with the orphans from Metz.  One of Mimi McPhee''s younger cousins.


    Cortini, Albert


    Born December 09 in The Year 722 AF.  Eldest son of a family of patissiers, he was excellent at making pastries.  Unfortunately he had a tendency to "sing" while at work.  Being tone deaf, he drove away a substantial number of potential customers.


    Donetti, Alphonse George


    Born May 12 in The Year 715 AF.  Only child of Richard and Anna.  He eventually became a famous fashion designer, and partner with Jason Fukui.  Between his brilliant designs, and Jason''s ability to dress anyone to perfection, their firm became the most famous in all of Europe, with customers travelling from as far away as Scandinavia and Northern India.


    Preferred to be called by his middle name.  George''s catchphrase was, "Clothing should not be thought of as just for either males or females.  The only thing that matters is whether or not they look good when you wear them."


    Married Matilda Voclain, the family''s adopted daughter, in The Year 734 AF.  Together they had six children.  Surprisingly, four of their children were consumed by a love of horses.  In The Year 759 AF they pooled their money and founded Kastner Farms.  Within 20 years it was the most respected of all the equine breeding businesses in The City.


    Their other two children joined the family jewelry business and took over Journey''s End when their grandmother retired.


    Donetti (Kastner), Anna


    Born February 27, in The Year 679 AF to Ignatius and Josephine.  Elder sister of Miranda.  Married Richard Donetti, Robert''s elder brother.  She and her husband lived in what was originally an annex to the Donetti ancestral home.  They ceded the larger building to Robert and Miranda when, after five miscarriages and one live birth it became apparent that she might not survive another pregnancy, thus permanently limiting their family to three.


    She worked with her parents as a jewelry designer in their shop Journey''s End until their retirement, after which she took over the store.


    Donetti, Anna Marie


    Born February 05 in The Year 731 AF.  Youngest of Paolo and Sara''s twin girls.


    Donetti, Consuela


    Born on August 12 in The Year 713 AF to Miranda and Robert.  Stavros is her twin brother.  In her early years the word "tomboy" was a pale reflection of her reality.  What she did in her adult years is a complete unknown, something that still puzzles scholars today.  I must admit that it makes no sense that a family with such detailed records on every other person has nothing about her and that there are not even any records of her life in the files of the OB.  Clearly they either never existed (extraordinarily unlikely) or they were deleted for security reasons.  The incredible number of proposals as to why continues to be added to even today, over 1200 years later.


    Donetti (Karongo), Danica


    Born in The Year 711 on April 12 in Faras in the Kingdom of Mekuria.  Spent most of her early life in Soba after her family moved there when she was three.  Moved to The City with her family in the spring of 726 AF.  She married Stavros Donetti five years later, on October 3, 731AF. (She was 20 and he was 17.)  She became one of the most celebrated violinists in Italy, and was, secretly, one of those who was behind The City''s enormous financial accomplishments in the early 15th century.


    Donetti, Eugenia Catarina


    Born in The Year 707 AF on January 01.  Eldest daughter, and second child, of Miranda and Robert.  Like Jason Fukui, she has some problems understanding normal social conventions and, consequently, tends to be a bit too outspoken.  On June 14 in the Year 721 AF, she was recruited as a trainee agent for Duchess Henrietta by her mother Miranda.  She is an enthusiastic student of the martial art known as Karate.  She married Mario Brown on September 03 in the Year 724 AF.


    She had an almost unquenchable desire to travel, which she did beginning after her graduation from Ingvold Academy in 725.  After eight years on the road with Mario, they returned to The City permanently and began their family.  While serving The City as roving agents, they travelled as far away as Eastern India, what is now Malawi, and Scotland.


    A consequence of their "cover" as book merchants, was that many libraries were begun, and literacy in the areas they travelled to increased substantially.


    Donetti (Speziale), Gabriella


    Born October 08 in The Year 720 AF.  Married Luigi on March 10, 740 A.F.


    Trained as a "quartermaster" in the same technical school Luigi attended.


    Donetti, Luigi


    Born January 11 in The Year 724 AF.  Eldest child of Sara and Paolo.


    Became an accountant.  Rather than attending secondary school in The City, he attended a special technical school in Milan, graduating a year early at only 16 years old.


    Married Gabriella Speziale (a distant relative of Aleena''s) on March 10, in 740 AF.


    Donetti (Voclain), Matilda


    Born in a village (name not recorded) to the northeast of Metz, France in The Year 718 AF. Rescued from Metz, France in 725 AF by Eugenia and Mario.  Adopted by Richard and Anna Donetti  in December of that same year.  Married Alphonse in 734 AF.  They had six children.


    Studied at Ingvold Academy and eventually became famous for her writings on military history.


    Donetti (Kastner), Miranda


    Born in the Year 683 AF on November 23rd.  Married Richard Donetti on August 12 in The Year 702 AF.  Daughter of Ignatius and Josephine Kastner.  Mother of Paolo, Eugenia, Stavros, and Consuela.  Many times granddaughter of Johann and Raven Kastner through both their daughter Rosalie and son Guiseppe.


    Duchess Henrietta''s spymaster in The City. She has branched out on her own and has a rather extensive information gathering network, mostly in northern Italy, but some informants travelled throughout much of Europe.  Due to her service to the Duchess, Miranda could no longer leave The City, which is, at least in part, why she recruited so many outsiders to her service.  While she was no longer be able to travel, she can "see" far away places through her informants'' tales.


    Miranda is from the Latin word "mirandus" which means admirable or wonderful.  On our planet (Earth II), the use of the word as a name seems to have been a creation by William Shakespeare for his heroine in "The Tempest."


    Donetti, Paolo (Bishop)


    Born April 19 in the Year 704 AF.  Eldest son of Richard and Miranda Donetti.  Married Sara Macklin June 28 in the Year 721 AF.  Began training for the priesthood on July 07 of the same year.


    Became a bishop in the Year 738 AF.


    Donetti, Richard


    Born in the year 678 AF.  Owner of The Exchange, the largest money-changing business in The City.  Married to Anna Kastner, Miranda''s elder sister.


    A senior partner in the Bank of the Griffon.


    Alphonse George Donetti is their only son.


    Adopted Matilda


    Donetti, Robert


    Born in The Year 682 AF on July 24.  Senior partner in the Bank of the Griffon.  Husband of Miranda, father of Paolo, Eugenia, Stavros, and Conseula.  Secret half owner, with Hiroshi Macklin, of The Merchantman''s Bank.


    Donetti (Macklin), Sara


    Born November 12 in the Year 703 AF.  Eldest daughter of Blair and Hiroshi Macklin.  First place finisher in the citywide, graduation examinations in the Year 721 AF.  She was the first student in 83 years to earn the maximum possible score.  Married to Paolo Donetti on June 28th in the same year.  Joint founder with Paolo of the Society for Understanding.  Appointed as Librarian in Charge of the libraries and archives of both The Little Cathedral and The Cathedral of Whispers in the Year 724 after substantially outscoring all other applicants testing for the position.


    Descendent of Johann and Lily Kastner through their eldest daughter Aradia.


    She and Paolo had five children:  Luigi, Anna, Josephine, Mimi, and Ailin.


    Donetti, Stavros


    Born on August 12 in The Year 713 AF to Miranda and Robert.  His twin sister is Consuela.  Given his nearly uncontrollable energy in his early years, his eventual decision to study what eventually came to be called "library science" totally shocked everyone who knew him, other than Conseula and his sister-in-law Sara. (Yes, even Danica.)


    Married Danica Karongo on October 03, 731 AF.


    Became, first, an Assistant Librarian at the Central Library.  Four years later he became the Supervising Librarian for the four branch libraries in The City, a position he held until his retirement.


    Drivas (Father)


    Teaches novice priests "Logic and Reasoning".  He refers to it as "hair splitting".


    Faraldo, Constantine


    Legal spouse of Freya MacOwen.


    Faraldo (MacOwen), Freya


    Legal spouse of Constantine.  Her gift/talent was that she always knew the exact time.  Twin of Bruno.


    Farina, Tabitha (Feliz/Sandro)


    Born in AF 712 in La Grande, Italy.  Younger sister of Gertie. Orphaned in 722.  Joined Mario and Genie on their way to The City in October of 725.


    Farina, Hannah (Gertie/Kurt)


    Born in AF 712 in La Grande, Italy.  Older sister of Feliz.  Orphaned in 722.  Joined Mario and Genie on their way to The City in October of 725.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Ferrari, Priscilla


    Upstairs maid at The Mule''s Tale Inn.  At the beginning of our story in AF 719, she was 17 years old.  The most accurate Foreseer known at the time.


    Fittipaldi, Laura


    Along with her husband Lucio, owner of the Purple Lion in La Grande, Italy. adopted Jeffrey and Thomas Lenz.


    Fukui (Ingram) , Consuela


    Born November 29 in The Year 661 AF.  Descended from Bernadette Kastner, one of Lily''s daughters, and Florian Ingram, one of Anselmo''s grandsons.  Nico Fukui''s mother.


    Fukui (Ayukawa), Akane


    Born October 04 in The Year 681 AF.


    A professor of history at the prestigious Ingvold Academy, she became a strategic consultant for Blair Macklin, Hiroshi Macklin, and Miranda Donetti.  Mother of Kaho, Jason, and Priscilla.


    Married Nico Fukui on May 30 in The Year 702 AF.


    Fukui, Enrique


    Born June 30 in The Year 724 AF.  Twin of Erin.  Married Marla Martinez on July 12 in 740 AF.


    Fukui (Macklin) , Hibiki í‘


    Born June 19, in the Year 709 AF.  Identical twin of Yoko and younger sister of Sara.


    Hibiki means "echo" but also refers to a pure tone/clear voice/etc.


    Her nickname is "Biki" which means beautiful maiden


    She studied calligraphy and tea ceremony as well as karate.


    Married Jason Fukui on her 15th birthday in the Year 724 AF.


    Chose to be a stay-at-home mother to the six youngest children in the family (3 sets of twins) all of whom were born between August and November of the Year 728.


    Fukui, Jason


    Born April 03, in The Year 710 AF.  Son of Akane and Sebastian.  Married Hibiki and Yoko Macklin on June 19 of the year 724 AF.  His occupation was officially as a fashion stylist, though he was secretly a frequent consultant working with the Guard in solving crimes.  His greatest accomplishment was  describing what we here on Earth II would call the laws of motion and universal gravitation, something that occurred only about 300 years later in the other five ''verses in the cluster. (By Isaac Newton)


    Fukui, Johann and Emil


    Twin boys born to Jason and Hibiki on November 03 In the Year 728 AF.


    Fukui, Kaho  Ñýºü


    Born in the Year 702 AF on September 03.  Eldest child of Akane and Sebastian Fukui.  She finished the citywide exams of 721 AF in second place.  Several years later revealed to be a "lightweaver".  Much to her dismay, she became the most famous physician ever to live in The City.


    "Kaho", when written with the kanji above, means "summer".


    Fukui, Lily and Raven


    Twin girls born to Yoko and Jason on August 30 in The Year 728 AF.


    Fukui, (Martinez) Marla


    Born May 03 in The Year 722 AF.  Married Enrique on July 12, 740 AF.  A greengrocer.


    Fukui, Olivia


    Born October 23, in The Year 728 AF.  They are the daughters of Darci Fukui (Witherspoon).  The identity of their father is unknown.  As a result of their mother miscarrying one of them during pregnancy, and their refusal to be separated, Olive and Livia shared a single body.  This was discovered by others only when they were eight years old.  From that time on, when in public, they were called Olivia.


    Given their underlying mischievous natures, and also given their Soap Opera-ish early lives, it should be no surprise to find out that they became wildly successful authors of Mystery novels.


    Fukui (Macklin), Yoko ÈÝ×Ó


    Born June 19, in the Year 709 AF.  Identical twin of Hibiki and younger sister of Sara.  She is a superb artist, concentrating on portraits, though her greatest love was, and is history.


    Depending on how it''s written, Yoko can mean a great many things.


    Our Yoko''s name''s meaning is "glorious child"


    Married Jason Fukui on her 15th birthday in the Year 724 AF.


    In May of the Year 729 AF, she became a certified teacher of History, which she taught at Chapman School until she retired in 772 AF.


    Fukui, Rebecca


    Youngest daughter of Akane and Sebastian.  Born October 3 in The Year 713 AF.  She began her pursuit of Guiseppi Macklin in the spring of 725 AF.  They were married six years later in the fall of 731 AF.  She had a long, satisfying career as a violinist.


    Fukui, Sebastian


    Born in The Year 682 AF to Conseula Ingram and Yuuto Fukui.  Conseula''s line is descended from Lily Kastner''s daughter Bernadette and Anselmo Ingram .  He is the senior partner in the Fukui Patisserie chain in The City (which consists of five stores). Eventually became a financial consultant to Robert Donetti and Hiroshi Macklin.


    Father of Kaho, Jason, and Rebecca.


    Garavani, Benito


    A lieutenant in the army, permanently stationed in La Grande to combat smugglers and bandits.  He is also a spy working for Blair Macklin.


    Garibaldi, Carlo


    Probably born in AF 15.  He came to the city to purchase horses in AF 34 but never left.  Married to Abigail Bulambo in AF 36.


    Garibaldi, Patricia


    Born February 17 in The Year 682 AF.  Owner of Garibaldi''s Books.  Married to Tatsuo Garibaldi.  Instrumental in teaching Eugenia and Mario Brown how to value, conserve, and sell books.


    Giles (aka Shiv)  Surname unknown


    Leader of a gang of homeless children in Metz, France.  16 of said children were rescued by Mimi, Consuela, and Stavros.  Good homes were eventually found for all 16.  Giles and five others chose to remain in Metz.  Giles and the five others eventually "enlisted" in the army, their other choice being several years in prison due to their ongoing criminal activities.


    Hopkins, Gemma


    Born in The City on February 26, in The Year 707 AF.  Hired as a maid by Anna and Richard Donetti to help with the orphans from Metz.  One of Mimi McPhee''s younger cousins.


    Ingram, Anselmo


    Emil Smithson''s surviving tentmate from the conflict involving Barons Childers and Jeffries.  He was a more than adequate carpenter.  He was the first mayor of The City.  Despite his extraordinary size for the time period (he was 175 cm and very broad-shouldered) he was soft-spoken and an excellent arbiter.


    Jeffries, Sven (Baron)


    Lord of a very minor holding in the north of Italy consisting of mostly hills and woodlands.  Lifelong enemy of Baron Childers since he instigated a certain humiliating incident when they were 11.  Killed by falling off his horse at the time of the celestial incident that resulted in The Founding.


    Kamala, Bala


    Born August 09 in The Year 713 After the Founding.  Eldest child of Ramakrishna and Dayita.  He has two younger biological sibs (fraternal twins) and two younger sibs who were adopted (Kristina and Saya).


    Kamala, Dayita (maiden name unknown)


    Born in The City some time in the summer of The Year 708 After the Founding.


    Became infertile due to an infection resulting from the birth of her twins in 716 AF.  She and her husband Ramakrishna adopted two of the girls rescued from Metz, Saya and Kirstina in December of AF 725.


    Kamala, Kristina (original surname unknown)


    Presumably born in The Year 718 AF.  Orphaned at age 4.  She has no memories of her family.  One of the children rescued from Metz.  Adopted by the Kamala family in December of 725 AF.


    Kamala, Saya (original surname unknown)


    Presumably born in The Year 717 AF.  Orphaned at age 5.  One of the children rescued from Metz.  She has no memory of her family name. Adopted by the Kamala family in December of 725 AF.


    Karongo, Aamil


    Eldest son of Faizan and Miriam.  Date of birth not recorded.  A silversmith, like his father.


    Karongo, Aadeel


    Second son of Faizan and Miriam.  Born September 03 in The Year 703.  Like his father, he was a well-regarded silversmith.  Married Heidi Donetti on June 14, 733 AF.  When asked, many years later, why he''d not married at a younger age, his response was: "She was, and is, the only woman who could ever distract me from my work."


    Karongo, Aseel


    Date of birth unknown.  Moved to The City in AF 722.  A skilled silversmith.  Elder brother of Faizan.


    Karongo, Faizan


    Date of birth unknown.  Married to Miriam (maiden name unknown).  Three children.  Eldest son was Aamil.  Next eldest son was Aadeel.  Youngest child (female) Danica.


    Born in the Kingdom of Makuria.  Moved to The City with his family (following his brother by four years) in AF 726.  An accomplished silversmith, known for his unusual (and exquisite) designs.


    Karongo (Donetti) (Beaulieu), Heidi


    Born April 11 in The Year 713 AF.  Orphaned in 723 when the Black Plague decimated Europe.  Rescued from life on the streets in September of 725 and was adopted by Robert Donetti''s family.


    In 731 AF, after graduating from Chapman School, she passed the Assistant Librarian examination and became the first Children''s Librarian at the new Central Library in The City.


    Much to the surprise of the family, their friends, and, to a great extent, themselves, she and Aadeel Kurango, Danica''s youngest, elder brother  fell in love and were married on June 14 in 733 AF.  In spite of the nine year age difference, they were happily married for 54 years.


    Within a decade it became a standing joke that the reason she had 8 children (3 sets of twins and two single births) was so that she''d never be out of a job.


    Immediately after giving birth to her second set of twins, she and Aadeel moved to the Donetti annex joining Richard, Anna, Aphonse, and Mattie (and their children).  When Heidi and Aadeel agreed to the invitation from Richard and Anna to live with them, it was noted that Anna was so overwhelmed by her happiness that she was unable to work for almost a week.


    Karongo, Miriam


    Married to Faizan.  Date of birth unknown.  Younger sister of Zaynab (who married Faizan''s elder brother Aseel.


    Karongo, Zaynab


    Elder sister of Miriam. Married to Aseel.  Date of birth unknown.


    Kastner, Anastasios


    Born September 30 in The Year 663 AF.  He was a superb, though little known (due to his wishes) physician.


    Kaho Fukui''s preceptor after she completed her basic medical training.  Raquel was his second oldest child.


    He had extensive records on the history of the Kastner family, which he, slowly, allowed Akane Fukui to access (resulting in a total of eight volumes concerning the early history of The City).


    Kastner, Bernadette


    Born February in The Year 54 AF to Johann and Lily.  Followed in her mother''s footsteps and became an herbalist.  One of Jason Fukui''s ancestors.


    Kastner (Fiore), Hiroko


    Born in the Year 16 AF.  Mother of Johann.  Contrary to what you''d expect, given her name, she is not of Japanese extraction.  Her mother had heard of the name from a trader who had been to the Orient on what later came to be called "the Silk Road", and she thought it was "sweet".


    Kastner, Ignatius


    Born in the Year 656 AF.  Father of Miranda.  Chief, and originally the only, designer at Journey''s End, the most exclusive jewelry store in The City.   His more important job was as a gatherer of information for Duke Alphonse Joseph. (Well, yes, he was a spy, but doesn''t it sound better the other way?)


    Kastner, Johann Ludwig


    Born in July in the Year 33 AF.  His parents were Alfredo and Hiroko.  Surprisingly for time period, he was an only child.  Married Lily Ashanti in September of the year 49 the day after her 14th birthday.  Married Raven Bulambo in the Year 57 AF, probably in the summer.  He was a master cabinet maker, one of the prime organizers of the Militia of The City, and an advisor to both Duke Alphonse Alexius  and his daughter Duchess Abigail.  Father of Lily''s children Bernadette and Rosalie as well as six others by Raven.


    Kastner (Negrini), Josephine


    Mother of Miranda.  Along with her husband Ignatius owns Journey''s End, the most exclusive jewelry shop in The City.  Her husband designed the pieces and she built them.


    Kastner (Ashanti), Lily


    Born In August in the Year 35 AF.  Granddaughter of Duke Alphonse Bulambo, and daughter of Rachel Bulambo Ashanti.  Like Johann, she was an only child.  Married Johann Kastner In September of the Year 49 AF.  Renowned herbalist who invented many treatments still used in the Year 720 AF.  Mother of Bernadette and Rosalie.


    Kastner (Bulambo), Raven


    Born approximately in the Year 29 AF, she was adopted by Duchess Carline and Duke Alphonse when she was about five years old, having been the only survivor in her family of some sort of rampant disease that spread through The City.  As the illness had caused her to forget her name, Carline named her "Raven" because of her dark, black hair.


    When she was 18 she became an agent for the duke.  After an extraordinarily traumatic mission when she was 28, she married Johann Kastner in AF 57.  In the process she became his second wife and the catalyst for the custom of especially closely bonded twins marrying the same person.  She bore three sets of twins, first girls, then boys, then one of each.


    Kastner, Rosalie


    Born February in the Year 54 AF to Johann and Lily.  Ancestor of Hibiki and Yoko Macklin. Unusually, for the time, she followed her father in becoming a cabinetmaker.


    Krait, Jillian


    Born in the Year 680 AF.  She became a teacher at Chapman School in 704 AF.  She became the Headmaster in 717 AF.   Krait is a Moroccan name, and it is presumed that her paternal line did indeed originate in northern Africa.


    Krause, Senra


    A classmate of the trio''s at Chapman School.  One of their early fashion clients.


    Krause, Serena


    Senra''s older sister.  The trio''s first "adult" fashion client and the one responsible for their business beginning to boom after she made multiple referrals to her friends.


    Kumala, Bala


    Born in 713 AF.  Only biological child of Dayita and Rama.  Married his adoptive sister Saya when they were 22 and 18 respectively.


    Kumala, Dayita


    Born in 699 AF.  Wife of Rama.  Biological mother of Bala and adoptive mother of Kristina and Saya.  One of the most sought-after lace makers in The City.


    Kumala, Kristina


    Born, probably, in 718 AF in Metz, France.  One of the orphans rescued by Mario and Eugenia Brown.  Adopted by the Kumala family.  She never knew her family surname being only four when her parents died of the plague. She manifested a magical talent at age 14, about average for children in The City.  It would ordinarily have been considered trivial, but, given her occupation, it was invaluable.  She could magically untangle any knot without damaging the knotted material.


    Kumala, Saya


    Born in 717 AF in Metz, France.  One of the orphans rescued by Mario and Eugenia Brown.  Adopted by the Kumala family.  She was five when her parents died of the plague.  Married Bala on her 18th birthday.  She thinks that her original surname was Higgins.


    Landry, Jefferey (Archbishop)


    Moved to The City in the Year 12 AF.  He married Duke Alphonse and Lady Carline that very day having accompanied Carline on the trip.  Thereafter he served as the ranking churchman in The City and oversaw the construction of what eventually became known as The Little Cathedral.  He died, much beloved, in the Year 39 AF.  Although his birthdate is unknown, he was approximately 69 years old at the time of his death.


    Laroan, Liam


    Son of Umberto.  If anything his attitude toward "ordinary trash" was worse than his father''s.  Brain damaged as a result of Yoko Fukui hitting him in the head when he tried to kill Jason and Hibiki.  He lived another 34 years after the injury, totally dependent upon care provided by the "trash" that he had despised so much.


    Laroan, Umberto (Baron)


    Arrogant, moderately wealthy, and absolutely, completely convinced that as a noble anything he does with or to a member of the "common rabble" is justifiable.  His official cause of death was "food poisoning".  As he lived in the countryside some distance from even a moderately sized town, there was no investigation of his death.  He was succeeded by his daughter Jacqueline, who managed her lands with a firm, but compassionate hand.


    Laterza, Avila (Avellino)


    Little is actually known about him.  His origins and early life were intentionally obscured when he took up his "occupation" of assassin.  The only certainty is that the name "Avila" is of German origin.  Whether or not it was his real name is unknown.  Until his execution in The Year 723 AF, he was known to most of the European intelligence services as "Avi  the Unstoppable."


    Lefvre, Ingrid


    Granddaughter of Hortense.  Reunited with her grandmother after being rescued by Mimi, Stavros, and Consuela.


    Lefevre, Hortense


    Owner and manager of The Balancing Peddlar. (No, even she has no idea why it was named that.)  Grandmother of Ingrid and Francine, two of the children rescued by Mimi, Consuela and Stavros,


    Lefevre, Ingrid


    Granddaughter of Hortense.  Reunited with her grandmother after being rescued by Mimi, Stavros, and Consuela.


    Lenz, Geoffrey


    Probably born in AF 715.  Twin of Thomas.  One of the orphans rescued in Metz, France.  Adopted by Laura and Lucio Fittipaldi, owners of the Purple Lion in La Grande, Italy.


    Lenz, Thomas


    Probably born in AF 715.  Twin of Jeffrey.  One of the orphans rescued in Metz, France.  Adopted by Laura and Lucio Fittipaldi, owners of the Purple Lion in La Grande, Italy.


    Leung, Ailin


    Born June 17 in the Year 698 AF.  Became the personal maid to Blair Macklin at age 19 in 717 AF.  An unofficial, but effective, spy who specialized in gleaning information from the conversations of others "in service".


    Levi, Xavier (Corporal)


    A member of Duchess Henrietta''s Guard.  He is responsible for gathering evidence when someone has been charged with a serious crime.


    Linton, Bernard


    A Master cabinet maker living in The City.  Born in AF 689.


    Livia, Felicity (Baroness)


    Held the territory closest to The City to the east.  A staunch supporter of Duke Alphonse in the early days of his duchy.  Had the attitude that "we Northerners need to stick together or those overly-perfumed, wimpy Southern nobles will try to overrun us."


    Luciano


    Born?  Died early March of 50 AF.  Bandit leader killed by Raven while he was planning to attack The City.  With his gift for oratory he would have made an excellent politician.  Fortunately for the people of Italy, he chose otherwise.


    Lundgren,  Lawrence  (Bishop)


    Born December 01 in The Year 672 AF.  Senior churchman and also head of the School of Theology at the Church of the Placid Heart.  A powerful mage and a skilled spy who still worked occasionally with Miranda Donetti.


    Retired in 644 AF, having trained Paolo Donetti as his replacement.


    Macklin, Blair


    Born December 29, in The Year 684 AF.  Her parents were Seamus Macklin and Ophelia Cruikshank.  Married Hiroshi Tsukimine on May 29, in the Year 702 AF.  She was the head of the domestic affairs division of the King''s Intelligence Service.  Descended from Johan and Raven Kastner''s firstborn Aradia through her mother''s side of the family.


    Macklin (Tsukimine), Hiroshi


    Born February 11, in the Year 683 AF near Kyoto in Japan.  For reasons unknow, his family fled the country, first to Okinawa, and thence to Italy where they settled in The City.   He was a junior partner in Robert Donetti''s bank.  He was also a full partner, with Robert, in the First Merchant''s Bank, which was specifically set up to work with middle class customers.  That they were the owners was kept secret from their elitist, (snobbish) customers at the main bank.  He was also one of the silent partners in the trading company begun by Alicia Strongbow and Aldus Ringvold. Following Japanese custom, he took on his wife Blair''s surname when they married on May 29 in The Year 702 AF as there was no male heir to carry on the family name.


    He also served as the head of the foreign affairs division of the King''s Intelligence Service.


    For reasons unknown, his father''s name was never mentioned.


    His given name is from  ºÆ meaning "prosperous."


    Macklin Guiseppi


    Eldest son of Blair and Hiroshi.  Born September 30 in The Year 714 AF.


    Macklin, Robert


    Youngest child of Blair and Hiroshi.  Born July 05 in The Year 717 AF.  (Named after Robert Donetti.)


    MacOwen, Bruno


    Twin of Freya.  Legal spouse of Elaine.


    MacOwen (Faraldo), Elaine


    Sister of Constantine Faraldo.  Legal spouse of Bruno.


    McPhee, Mimi (Miryam)


    Born March 06 in The year 697 AF.  Her mother met her father while she was a student in Ireland.  He returned with her to The City.  Her parents were florists.


    Became a maid for the Donetti family in AF 713 at age 16.  How it is that she came to be the head maid in the Donetti household is unknown.


    Murray, Ugne "Bobby" (Captain)


    Born April 30 in The Year 680 AF.  Captain of the Duchess'' Guard as well as Duchess Henrietta''s husband.  "Sandy" Rivers was his twin sister.  "Ugne" means "fire" in Lithuanian.


    Newton, Mira


    One of the best friends of Hibiki, Jason, and Yoko Fukui.  She was one of the few people who always treated Jason as a classmate and friend instead of an "embarrassing freak".  As an adult she became a magistrate in The City''s courts.


    O''Connor, Alonzo


    Born?  In service to Count Abelli.  He formulated the plan to neutralize the nobles who were planning to take over The City from Duchess Abigail.  Unrequited love interest of Armsmaster Delilah Stockholder.


    O''Malley, Mckale


    Date of birth unknown.  Sex - uncertain.  Proprietor of Brewster''s Books in The City.  The reason for the name of the store is unknown.  Mckale means "like God".  O''Malley means "a descendant of a follower of St. John".


    Pascal, Robin


    Bookstore owner in Metz, France.  After meeting with Mario and Genie Brown, she and her husband purchased a larger store which became the most popular bookstore/coffee house in Metz. She also works to ferret out information regarding German plots in France.  She eventually became one of the most effective spies working in France for Hiroshi.


    Piedmont, Marcella


    First chair violinist for The CIty''s symphony orchestra.  Famous throughout Europe due to her "godly" skills, her greatest skill was actually teaching.  Her two most famous students were Rebecca Macklin (Fukui) and Danica Donetti (Karongo), both of whom eventually surpassed her.  Outdoor concerts by the three of them were long remembered both because of their skill and because all commerce within hearing of the site where they were playing stopped until they were finished.


    Ptica (Professor)


    A tenured professor in the Department of Sociology at Broadwing University.  She has been teaching there for 137 years. (Her appointment is ongoing.)  One of her classes, Applied Sociology VII, serves as a screening tool for potential candidates for the Operations Branch.  Members of her species rarely reach a height of one meter.  Remarkably, they can produce  sounds of an intensity such that even steel reinforced buildings will crumble if a member of her species yells in that direction.  The mechanics by which they produce these sounds is still not understood, even after centuries of study.


    Proulx (Bulambo), Melissa


    Born in the Year 43 AF.  Eldest daughter of Abigail.


    Ramachandra, Fiorina


    A quack masquerading as a physician.  Several patients had suffered significant harm as a result of her reckless treatments.  Arrested and jailed in the Year 724 AF.  She served a life sentence in the Duchess'' service.


    Rinaldi, Antonio (Baron)


    Originally a servant in the King''s household whose duty was to oversee the education of the king''s third son Alphonse.  Alphonse appointed him Major Domo of his household when they "moved" to The City.  He was made Baron Rinaldi in the year 21 AF, 14 years after their arrival.  He was born in the year 27 BF and died in the year 32 AF at the then ripe old age of 59.


    He was the author of the diary quoted by Aldus Ringvold in AF 719.


    Ringvold, Aldus


    A master trader whose circuit included The City of The Bells.  He was first apprenticed to the trade 19 years earlier when he was 14.  When we first met him in 719 AF, he was 33 years old.  He worked for The Company, one of the largest trading companies in Italy.  His specialty was training new journeymen in the ins and outs of the business.  He fell in love with Alicia Strongbow, the owner of The Mule''s Tale Inn.  After a four year "courtship", Alicia agreed to marry him, and they were wed in AF 720.  For reasons that he has never explained, he preferred to go by his surname, though it seems likely that he simply didn''t like what his given name meant.


    Aldus means "old one" or "elder" in old German (which is presumably why he didn''t use it).  Ringvold is a surname found mostly in Norway.


    Rivers (Farina), Hannah


    Born March 24 in The Year 712 After the Founding in LaGrande, Italy.  Twin sister of Tabitha.  Orphaned in 722 AF when the Black Death passed through Europe.


    Adopted in December of 725 AF by Maria Rivers


    Rivers, Maria "Sandy" (Sargeant)


    Younger sister of Captain Murray.  Senior Sargeant of the Duchess'' Guard.  She used her mother''s Maiden Name as her surname to prevent the confusion that might arise were there to be two Ugne''s in positions of authority in the Guard.  She handled the day-to-day business of the Guard and was the liason with the town militia.  Over the years she worked frequently with Yoko, Hibiki, and Jason when testimony needed to be verified as truthful, or not.


    Adopted Hannah and Tabitha Farina in December of 725 AF.


    Rivers (Farina), Tabitha


    Born March 24 in The Year 712 After the Founding in LaGrande, Italy.  Twin sister of Hannah.  Orphaned in 722 AF when the Black Death passed through Europe.


    Adopted in December of 725 AF by Maria Rivers


    Roberts, Santino


    A miller living in La Grande, Italy.  Took over the Farina family mill after the death of Gertie and Feliz'' parents in AF 722.


    Rodriguez (Muller), Brigid


    Born on February 18 in The Year 711 After the Founding, in an unnamed village to the northeast of Metz, France.  Orphaned in 723 when bandits killed all the adults in the village.  Rescued in September of 725.


    Adopted by Antonio and Raquel in December of 725 AF.


    After training as a physician, she joined her mother''s practice.


    Rodriguez (Kastner), Raquel


    Born March 31 in The Year 688 AF.  Married Antonia in 701 AF.


    Daughter of Anastasios Kastner.  Like her father she became a physician and was a master herbalist.


    Rodriguez (Davidson), Sally


    Born on June 09 in The Year 715 After the Founding in the same village as her adoptive sister Brigid.  She was adopted by Antonio and Raquel in December of 725 AF.


    After training as a physician, she joined her mother''s practice.


    Sanchez de Tovar, Fernando (Admiral)


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_S%C3%A1nchez_de_Tovar</a>


    Sanders, Benito


    Born in the Year 697 AF.  He lived and breathed science and mathematics.  He was one of the rare scientists who was also an excellent teacher.  Hired by Chapman School in 720 AF, he was the reason they began an advanced course in science and math that ran all six years.


    Sandoval, Jose


    Homeroom teacher for Brigid and Heidi when they first began attending Chapman School in AF 725.


    Scavo, Enrique


    If the age he gave to the court wasn''t a lie, he was born in 679 AF.  In 701 AF he was arrested for robbery as well as attempted extortion, rape, kidnapping, and slavery.  He was found innocent of the robbery charge as there was no firm evidence.  However, he was sentenced to consecutive 12 year sentences for the latter four crimes and died in 731AF while still working on the road crews.


    Schultz, Alberto (Corporal)


    Originally in service to Baron Childers, he became one of the organizers of the first militia in The City.  Eventually entered the service of Duke Alphonse and rose to the rank of sargeant.


    Segreti (Vivas), Flora


    Born in AF 716 in Metz, France.  Twin sister of Isobel.  One of the children rescued by Mario and Eugenia Brown.  Adopted by Jacqueline Segreti.  In spite of her small stature, she followed her adoptive mother into weaponsmithing and became renowned for her daggers.  The vast majority of her production was contracted to the various branches of the King''s intelligence services.  The few that were available to civilians commanded extraordinarily high prices.


    Segreti (Vivas), Isobel


    Born in AF 716 in Metz, France.  Twin sister of Flora.  One of the children rescued by Mario and Eugenia Brown.  Adopted by Jacqueline Segreti.  She became the business manager of the smithy staffed by her adoptive mother and her sister Flora while only in her third year of secondary school.  Once she took over negotiations with customers, profits soared.


    Scott (Fukui), Erin


    Born June 30 in The Year 724 AF.  Twin of Enrique.  Married Tomaso Scott on July 12 in 740 AF.  Even in a family renowned for its skills, she stood out as a superb patissier.


    Scott, Tomaso


    Born November 11 in The Year 720 AF.  Married Erin Fukui on July 12, 740 AF.  A gifted baker.  The ran the first store in The City to combine a bakery with a patisserie.  He did the breads and Erin the pastries.


    Segreti, Jacqueline Ophelia Francesca


    Born in The Year 695 After the Founding.  Only daughter of Baron and Baroness Segreti, who almost disowned her when she declared that she was going to become a "common laborer," ie. a swordsmith.  Eventually became the most in-demand maker of fine swords and daggers in Northern Italy.


    Adopted Flora and Isobel in December of 725 AF.


    Smithson (Jeffries), Aradia


    Daughter of Baron Jeffries, she was his chief huntsman.  Married Emil Smithson on the Day of The Founding, at the site of the "miracle" that caused The City to come into existence.  Along with her husband, she was a driving force behind making the dreams of William and Philipa Childers for the structure of The City into a reality.  Died in June of The Year 23 AF due to "plague."


    The name Aradia comes from that of a daughter of the goddess Diana.


    Smithson, Emil


    Born approximately in the Year 22 Before the Founding.  A highly skilled blacksmith.  Part of the "army" of Baron Childers, he was present at the instant of The Founding.  One of the early leaders of The City, he and his wife Aradia were in charge of logistics and making the rough plans drawn up by William Childers and his wife Philipa into reality. Died June of The Year 23 AF due to "plague."


    Speziale, Aleena


    One of Akane Fukui''s students at Ingvold Academy.  When we meet her, she is 14 and is already showing significant leadership skills.  When Jilian Krait retired, she became headmaster at the Chapman School.


    Stockholder, Delilah


    Born in the Year 20 AF.  Became Armsmaster for Duke Alphonso in AF 43 upon the retirement of her predecessor, Armsmaster Bjornson.  Later fell in love with Alonzo O''Connor, who ran away due to her overly-forceful approach.


    Strongbow, Alicia


    Owner of The Mule''s Tale Inn.  Born in 691 AF.  Married Aldus Ringvold in 720 AF.  Together, along with their silent partners Richard Donetti, Hiroshi Macklin and Sebastian Fukui, they founded what eventually became one of the largest trading companies in northern Italy.


    She was named after her grandmother, who was of Greek extraction.  The name Alicia in Greek means "honest".


    Sullivan (Tilki), Aysun


    A master clockmaker.  She trained Freya and Bruno MacOwen.


    Townsend, Elias (Father)


    Born - unknown.  Probably about the Year 40 BF.  An ordained priest.  Married Emil to Aradia and Philipa to William the morning of The Founding at the prompting of a vision he had had the night before.  The driving force  behind the construction of the first churches in The City and a significant stabilizing influence until Archbishop Landry arrived in AF 12.


    Subsequent to that date he served the Archbishop as a trusted advisor.


    Trucco, Gertie/Kurt/Hannah


    Born April 12 in The Year 711 in the town of La Grande, Italy.  Elder sister of Feliz/Sandro/Tabitha.  Adopted by Maria "Sandy" Rivers.


    Trucco, Feliz/Sandro/Tabitha


    Born April 12 in The Year 711 in the town of La Grande, Italy.  Younger twin of Gertie/Kurt/Hannah  Adopted by Maria "Sandy" RIvers.


    Tsukimine, Murasaki


    Born in 663 AF at an undisclosed location in Japan.  Mother of Hiroshi.  Prior to Miranda Donetti assuming the position of Duchess Henrietta''s Spymaster, Murasaki served in the same capacity for Duke Alphonse Alexius (Henrietta''s father), and continued in a new role as a roving spy after Miranda became active.


    Witherspoon, Brewster


    Father of Darci, Mei, Buford and Blaze.  In 728 AF discovered to have been abusing his family for years.  He was arrested in May of that year and convicted.  He was sentenced to 20 years servitude on the road crews.


    Witherspoon, Buford and Blaze


    Born in the Year 701 AF to Brewster and Costanzia.  (Yes, those really were their names.  Even without an abusive father their names put them at a social disadvantage.)  Both were employees at a local brewery called The Rising Suds.


    Witherspoon, Costanzia


    We have almost no information on her at all.  When he was still in the picture, Brewster didn''t allow anyone to speak to her privately.  Afterwards, she became almost a recluse.  A year after Brewster was arrested, she became a Visitandine nun. (This order was founded several hundred years earlier on Earth VI than on Earth II.)  The only time she was mentioned in the records of the convent was in a brief note written by the abbess after Constanzia had died at the age of 73.  It said; "She lived in peace and harmony with the world and brought joy to all of us."


    Witherspoon, Darci


    Born in the Year 705 AF to Brewster and Constanzia.  She was Kaho''s first patient while she was  training to be a physician.  She was gradually dying of Von Willibrand''s Disease.


    Her treatment was successful once Kaho and her preceptor Josef Kastner were finally able to correctly diagnose her problem.  After being cured, she, eventually, pushed her family to allow Kaho to see, and treat, her younger sister Mei.


    She was devastated by her failure to help her younger sister sooner, and she vowed to never, ever do the same again.  She threw herself into medical studies and served the people of The City for the rest of her life.


    Witherspoon, Mei


    Youngest child of Brewster and Costanzia Witherspoon.  Born June 19 in The Year 709 AF.  She was a sickly child, and probably had what is now known as Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy.  After a complicated life, she was adopted by the Fukui family in 728 AF.  Shortly thereafter her daughters Olive and Livia were born.


    Young, Silvia


    Employee of The Mule''s Tale Inn when it was owned by Alicia Strongbow.


    Zangari, Celia


    Born in The City on April 25, in The Year 690 AF.  Expert chef hired to work in the household of Anna and Richard Donetti just prior to the arrival of the orphans from Metz.  One of Mimi McPhee''s older cousins.


    Zangari, Nico


    Born in The City on August 12, in The Year 711 AF.  Apprentice to Celia, who is his mother.


    Zheng He


    A Chinese admiral.  He commanded one of the largest fleets the world has ever know.  He is known to have traveled from China all the way to the east coast of Africa.  The largest ships had a complement of hundreds and were as much as 120 meters long.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_He</a>

 Volume 5 - Opening Knights - Prologue

    Grgur hid a smile as the final student stumbled into the classroom, looked around, realized that he was in the wrong place, and tried to leave only to find that there was no door.  "All right everyone, settle down.  Now that Pellan is here we can get started.  Find yourselves seating appropriate to your species, then we''ll begin."


    It strode to the front of the classroom, turned, waited a few seconds while its new class sat on whatever, then tapped the lectern with a claw to get everyone''s attention,  "Welcome to Applied Sociology IX.   I''m your professor, Grgur.  And to answer the question you haven''t asked, yes, I will be explaining everything...eventually.


    "But for now, all of you should be wondering why you are here instead of there.  ''There'' being in the class you signed up for at one of the five Broadwing Universities in this ''verse''s Milky Way galaxy.    Anyone not wondering is either psychic or is involved in a security breach.  In the latter case, you''d best report it now rather than later....


    "Nobody?  Good.  Since I was speaking of security, I''ll get to the matter at hand.  All of you have been observed for long enough and are reliable enough that your security clearances have been increased, effective today.


    "Yes, I know that almost none of you knew that you HAD security clearances, but that will become clear to you in good time.  For now, just remember one thing.  Each of you has been selected as a possible future member of the Operations Branch.  Those who are ''lucky'' enough to be so chosen are automatically assigned to this course once there are enough students to make teaching it worthwhile.  On average this particular class is held every six years."


    As always, in spite of having taught this class for so many decades, Grgur was amused at the students'' varied reactions.  It had seen them all many times before, but they still tickled it.  After allowing a further brief period for the students to get over their shock at realizing that they were all candidates for the most elite agency in their galaxy, it continued.


    "That''s enough.  Quiet!


    "Good.  Now, as to the reason why you''re here.  All of you realized by the end of your time in Applied Sociology VII that you were watching surveillance videos rather than ones created to teach you actual sociology...though being able to quickly grasp other cultures will be essential if you DO become OB employees.  What you didn''t know is WHY you were watching them.


    "The reason is that all who work for the OB, in any capacity, need to understand why certain pivotal events happened.  Thus you are here today.  A certain sequence of events that ended 476 years ago on Earth IV has had a profound effect on the rest of our ''verse cluster.  You all know that from your history classes.  What you didn''t know is that the official reasons for said events are absolute hogwash."


    Grgur waited as most of the students turned to each other and asked if they knew anything about this.  It was a complete waste of time as there was no chance that they did.  However, reflexive behavior is hard to control.  What they also didn''t know was that their placement evaluations to determine where they''d eventually be slotted in the OB had already begun. Grgur made note of the names of the eight who kept their attention on it rather than acting like the others.


    It cleared its throat to regain their attention, "I am now authorized to tell you why what you learned in App Soc VII, VIII, and the special seminars you attended after those classes is relevant to App Soc IX.  Your previous classes covered events that took place in The City of The Bells in a country called Italy.  In my class, you''ll learn about events occurring on Earth IV in what was then called The United States of America.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "The events that occurred in The City of The Bells may best be considered as no different from what happens when new recruits in the armed forces are attending boot camp.  A group of strangers is brought together and put through various, usually non-lethal, training exercises in order to prepare them for real missions.  At the end of the boot camp, they will have learned to act cohesively and to react quickly to dangerous situations.


    "I see that some of you begin to understand. The events on Earth IV that we are about to study were what occurred after the ''boot camp'' was completed. Rather than spanning over 800 years as they did in The City, all the most critical events on Earth IV happened in less than a single year.  Even so, more transpired in that year than in the previous 1,500.


    "We''re fortunate in that we have even more detailed recordings and transcripts of those pivotal events than we do of events in The City.  This year we''ll be meeting daily in order to review them.  If you have questions, just ask me.  I made most of the recordings, so I should be able to fill in any gaps that you may detect.


    "Be aware than there are jumps from first to third person and back again and that it may occasionally be unclear as to which being is speaking.   This is because, at the time, there wasn''t even the ghost of an idea that these records might be used as teaching materials.


    "In addition, some of the comments that were made to me by the primary operative, then known as Karla,  were added during the debriefings.  These are enclosed within double angle brackets << like this >>.   At times my comments will be enclosed as well, in double regular brackets [[like this]].  Thus, even if context alone doesn''t tell you who is speaking, the punctuation will.  One consequence of this can be that those added comments may appear to be unusually prescient.  The truth is anything but.  We''ve put most of them in to make it easier for you to understand what happened.  At the time, there was no such clarity of thought for most of the beings involved.  Such is the nature of real life.


    "After teaching this class for over 150 years, I''ve discovered that there''s no benefit for you to try to figure out what part was original material and what parts have been added to improve comprehension.  What you do need to know is that the overall story is as accurate as possible.  So those species like Elantar''s, that are known galaxy-wide for their need to have things as completely organized and annotated as possible, are going to be sorely disappointed.  Consider it a means of stretching your minds rather than as a data failure.


    "An additional source of confusion will likely be that Karla was, except for her episodic conversations with me, under the impression that she was keeping a diary, not preparing progress reports.  The reason for that will also eventually be made clear to you should you do well enough to be able to remain in this class.


    "Feel free to be amused at my many mistakes back then.  Also feel free to remember that laughing out loud at your professor could seriously jeopardize your evaluations.


    "You also need to know that any being that breathes so much as a single word of what they hear in this class will be sent to the most miserable duty posts that exist.  A complete list is being sent to each of you by secure email.  Feel free to review the list any time you think of talking to anyone about what you learn here.


    "Oh, yes, one more thing.  Anyone who does find themselves with such a new assignment will be spending the next 300 years wherever they''re sent, so you''ll need to take quite a bit of reading material with you.  You won''t be allowed any other entertainment."


    It scanned the class, noting that each looked appropriately serious, or, in the case of Qalla, on the verge of passing out.  Grgur mentally shook its head.  Even after all these years it still didn''t understand how the members of Qalla''s species could be both extraordinarily gregarious and outgoing when on their home world but extremely introverted and shy when approached off-planet.


    "Very well.  There is a great deal to cover.  We will begin reviewing ''Karla''s'' first report."

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 1

    July 25, 2008


    I jabbed at the buttons on the radio again, in the forlorn hope that this time....ah ha!  It sounded vaguely like bad Salsa, but it was a lot better than nothing.  As the ancient car vibrated its way down the road, it almost seemed as if the music was keeping time with the rattling...boom, chaka chaka...boom, chaka chaka....


    Jane sighed as she turned over, somehow managing not to awaken herself.  Quite a feat when she was over a foot longer that the space between the door and where she was resting her head my lap.


    Looking down, I was almost overwhelmed by conflicting emotions as I remembered the first time I had seen my beloved daughter.  I''d pulled over for a bit of a break at Amboy that July before finishing a  run from Flagstaff to Barstow.  Just before I restarted the engine, I heard an odd whimpering noise.  Following it, I found a tiny thing huddled in what was left of the shade thrown by the abandoned gas station that was gradually shriveling in the desert sun.  I was hit simultaneously by incredible relief that I''d found Jane before she''d died of exposure and by a raging hatred of whoever had abandoned her there.


    Jane had started calling me "Mama" within a week.  Even now, 10 years later, I could hardly believe that as a 15-year-old girl I''d become a four-year-old''s mother.  Frankly it''s amazing that we both survived, considering that I''d been on the road since I was abandoned myself at 12 and had no idea of how to take care of a child.


    It was fortunate that I''d learned early on that looking young and alone was more than an invitation to trouble.  By 15 I''d learned how to make myself look like I was in my 20s, and now, at 25, I could easily look as if I were in my early 30s -- perfectly suitable for someone with a daughter Jane''s age.


    Unfortunately Jane was the trusting sort, though it had been almost three years this time before she''d made a slip and the incipient attention of Child Welfare had necessitated us skipping town again.


    Oh well.  Fresno wasn''t the most comfortable city in the world anyway.  Since we had to leave, and because Jane said that she wanted to visit the Northwest, I''d said "what the heck."   That''s why the two of us and our three cats were headed north.  Slowly, given the state of the car, but still northbound toward whatever lay ahead.


    Every few miles a tiny scrap of our previous existence went out the window.  After all, shredded documents have been known to be reassembled.  But now, if someone REALLY wanted to find the papers, they''d have to comb 800 miles of roadside to gather those pieces.


    <<For crying out loud!  What is it?  You have a question?  You do realize that I''ve just started don''t you Grgur?  Oh all right.  But just ONE question.   You want to know WHAT?  Oh lord, I freaking don''t believe it.  You want to know why I was tearing up the old IDs and tossing them away piecemeal?   Yes, yes.  I know that I could have burned them if I didn''t feel safe shredding them.  So why did I do it that way?


    You''re much too serious you know?  You have absolutely no poetry in your soul.  I did it that way because it felt good to do it like that.  It was sorta romantic in a way.  That''s all.


    Shut up!  No laughing allowed.  We have a long way to go with this report, and I don''t have time for your sophomoric sense of humor.  What?  Calm down?  I don''t need to calm down.  I...  AM...    PERFECTLY... CALM!


    No more questions?  You''re going to sit there and not say anything else?  Good.  Keep it zipped and listen.  This is going to take long enough as it is. >>


    The good thing about Fresno had been the ready access to forged documents.  That was because the I-5 corridor through central California was the main route taken by many of the "undocumented workers" from Mexico and points south, and most of them eventually needed some sort of fake ID.  Those good enough to fool the not-so-interested local employers were easy to find, but ones that would be considered valid by someone paying more attention to such were another thing.  Fortunately those selling the former always had contacts with those handling the latter.  The cost was an order of magnitude higher, but I had always felt that a craftsman with contacts in the government, and superb hacking skills, deserved pay commensurate with said skills.


    So now I was Heather Knight, and Jane was now...Jane.  She never managed to keep any other name straight in her head.  It didn''t really matter though since "Jane" is more than common enough not to be noticeable.  When I first found her, Jane had not remembered her surname, so she was now, after mulitple changes in the past 10 years, indifferent to whatever it currently was.


    I glanced down again and stroked her head.  Such a complicated person.  Overly trusting and with an unmeasurably high IQ.  Thank God she was outgoing and made friends easily.  I had no idea what I would have done with a female Sheldon Cooper.


    At the very least, this new (and hopefully final) move would probably be sufficient encouragement to get Jane to be careful enough that she wouldn''t blunder again.  The pain of losing friends over and over was an effective teaching tool.  Just three more years and we''d be safe from those who kept trying (in their somewhat well-meaning, blundering way) to separate us.


    So, we motored on up to the Pacific Northwest.  We spent a year checking things out, bumming around here and there from Vancouver, BC (too wet and gray) to Medford, Oregon (too dry and hot).  We finally settled on Salem, Oregon for what struck me at the time as one of the strangest reasons ever.


    Jane had developed a passion for fly fishing.


    (Bordering on obsession if you ask me -- yeah, I know, you didn''t ask did you sweetie?  And, speaking of which, when are you going to stop reading my private diary over my shoulder?)


    Salem sits in the Willamette Valley, within less than an hour of a rather incredible number of streams to fish in.  (And the fact that it''s within an hour or so of the beach, Portland, and Eugene, not to mention within two hours of skiing in the winter doesn''t hurt at all.)


    One of the local high schools, Sprague, also has a decent drama department.  Having seen me work on myself to change my appearance and apparent age seems to have excited some girlish, pubescent fascination with acting in Jane.  We got her enrolled and that was that.  She started a year late, but hey, we''d been sorta busy.


    Ah, right, there is one other reason for the choice of Salem.  It seems that it had a small shop that fascinated Jane nearly as much as fishing did.  It sold spy equipment.  As it turned out, the only thing that gets her attention as much as fishing does is microelectronics of all kinds.  Unexpectedly that proved very useful and surprisingly lucrative.


    <<Why?  Come on, use your head.  Stop and think for a bit. Who goes fly fishing?  Yes, yes, I know, fanatic fishermen.  Be quiet and pay attention.


    75% of said fishermen are males, and many of them are over 50 and successful businessmen.


    Well, duh, who else can afford the equipment and has the time?  Fly fishing is so tedious that it makes my bones ache just watching it.>>


    Her combination of interests resulted in two things.


    1) The fly-fishing fanatics swarmed around Jane like bees over a spilled truckload of molasses.  Who''d believe a young girl like her, and so cute too, would want to take up their favorite sport?


    2) Since there''s not much to do but talk while fishing, they tended to ramble on about business, and their children or grandchildren, and their problems with security.


    Jane, being smart and resourceful -- she takes after me of course  (Jane! STOP hitting me!) saw an opportunity waiting to be exploited, especially after stumbing over that little spy shop.


    A few of those fishermen had daughters or granddaughters Jane''s age so she got introduced around.  After visiting a few homes of the rich but not-so-famous, she was able to spot numerous security problems.  Then all she had to do was drop some subtle hints about this rather amazing, confidential security business she knew of, and they were hooked without knowing it.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.    One of the basic tenets of fly fishing is to be subtle about setting the hook.


    (Hah!  You thought I never listened to you while you were rambling on about fishing, didn''t you Jane?)


    Said security business, Hornet Enterprises, LLC consisted of one person, Jane.  Her visits to her fishing friends'' homes were usually as a twenty something male.  (Yes rib corsets serve admirably as breast binders too.)


    After a few break-ins were foiled, business took off, especially as would-be clients found out that there was no listed phone number.  The only way to contact Hornet was by referral from an existing client.  All I can say is:  What a GREAT marketing gimmick!  In no time at all the truly rich and famous, were clamoring to be clients.  Most cared less about how good their security was than they did about having that pink hornet mounted outside their homes to prove how important they were.


    Jane didn''t care all that much about the money.  But, since she was going to work, she figured that she should arrange things so her income was as high as possible.  That would allow her to spend more time "improving her equipment."  At least she insisted that was the reason.  Who knows?  Maybe it really was.


    All appointments were evenings ones.  Jane used the excuse of needing to see where the late afternoon shadows that burglars might hide in were.  The reality was that she didn''t have to cut classes to do her installations if they were late in the day.  Not to mention that the low light levels helped her conceal her age and sex.


    Instead of 5 or 6 sensors, which most "security" companies installed, she used dozens.


    <<Low power sensor networks are wonderful -- just Google it, I''m way too tired to explain it here.>>


    Nobody got within a hundred yards of her clients without being detected.  It didn''t take long before word got around in the thieving community that you didn''t mess with a house with the pink hornet emblem on it.


    <<Yeah, can you believe it?  Jane is a true girly girl--she loves pink--go figure.  I prefer dark blue, but that''s just me I guess.>>


    ------------------


    This is Jane speaking -- sorta, I guess..  Yes I like pink. So what?


    Mama isn''t telling you everything because she doesn''t know everything.  So...I''m going to fill you in.  First of all, I stole this idea for adding things to Mama''s diary that she won''t know about from Robert Heinlein''s book: Podkayne of Mars.  Her little brother tended to add comments in her diary using ink that would disappear in 24 hours.  Not quite the same thing, but it got me thinking, so here we are.


    Anyway, I''m involved in a bit more than just security.  You see, a couple of times the thieves got past my systems.  And Mama still doesn''t know that I don''t do only homes.  There are a number of businesses and banks where I''ve improved security.  Shhh, don''t tell her.


    Hmm, got distracted there. They say that your parent''s habits rub off on you. I''d rather that one hadn''t.  Oh well.


    So, a couple of thieves were successful -- for a time.  You see, Mama has these interesting contacts in what you might loosely call the underworld.  Not the big time criminals, but you have to have or know a good hacker and forger to get fake IDs that pass government security screens nowadays.


    Well, I got in touch with one, and through her I got in touch with a few more -- 62 to be exact -- all over the world.  Now they all work for me.


    How''d I do that?  Bait of course.  Every fisherman knows that you have to use the right bait.  At times you need a different fly for different times of day.  One thing that works well as bait for just about all humans is money.  Hackers don''t necessarily love money as much as the challenge of hacking, but they do need money for equipment.


    Then again, some don''t care about the money, but they love the newest toys like Google Glasses and the Oculus Rift.  Back in 2010 they were still incredibly hard to get, so all I had to do was dangle them in front of my prospects and wait for them to bite.  Then I set the hook and voila, they were working for me regularly.


    Starting from there, I gave them an opportunity.  When one of my clients got hit, we hit back.  No matter how hard they tried to hide their tracks (and some of the thefts were electronic) my hacker team could track down anyone.  When we did, we drained (all right, stole) everything they had in the bank.


    No it doesn''t really happen like on those silly TV programs where they hack into something in less than a minute.  Sometimes it took several weeks to find them, but results matter more than speed in my line of work.


    The client always got back everything they''d lost.  Usually they showered us with effusive praise, but, much more importantly, they frequently gave us referrals to more potential clients.  Normally nobody expects a security business to be involved in recovery, so they were thrilled when we gave them back their money.


    My hacker team and I got everything over the amount lost.  Splitting it 63 ways didn''t always leave a lot, but it gave the entire team an incentive to work together -- something notoriously difficult to do with hackers.


    What did we do if someone didn''t do his/her share of the work?  They got hacked of course.  After that happened to a couple of them, word got around, and there were no more problems.


    OK, enough of that.  Returning control of your television to Mama -- yes a joke.  You should look up an old TV series  from the 1960''s called The Outer Limits.


    This is Jane signing off for now.


    ------------------


    Jane''s forays into the wilds to enjoy the dubious pleasure of standing in waist deep, cold water for hours on end left me with not a lot to do once we got there, so out of desperation I took up painting.  I never imagined that it would turn out to be such a great idea.  Seems that I''m more than just pretty good at it.  It''s only been a few years, but my landscapes already go for several thousand dollars.  What a great cover!


    <<Huh?  You''re surprised that I needed a cover to explain my money?  Either you didn''t get enough sleep last night or...ah,never mind.  Of course I needed a cover.>>


    I''ve been on my own since I was 12.  That''s 18 years now.


    You can''t live on air.  So, like all precocious runaways, I developed a specialty.  I''m a courier.  A very special kind of courier.


    Businesses and rich people have things that they need moved from one place to another with absolutely NOBODY knowing what was moved or even that the transfer has happened.  Even messages sometimes need to be hand-delivered.  Email always leaves a record on multiple servers, and that''s led to some very messy lawsuits and embarrassed politicians.  You''ve probably read about quite a few, or at least seen them on TV.


    When a teen dressed in a jeans skirt and tights with one blue leg and one pink, hair in a blue and red mohawk, and enough piercings to set off a metal detector from 20 feet away walks into a business, nobody ever looks at her face. Most people spend as much time as possible looking away so as not to be contaminated by whatever it is that just came in the door.


    (No the piercings weren''t  real.  The idea of intentionally putting that many holes in my body makes me shudder.)


    Then you say: "Mom said that I HAVE to talk to Mr. Howard T. Richards and nobody else!"  If you can do it with a loud nasal whine and look really put upon, they take you right back to his office so none of the other customers have to look at you and decide that maybe this place isn''t exclusive enough for them after all.


    Mr. Richards (or whoever you''re seeing) has already been clued in that his courier will ask for him with a wrong middle initial.  He gives you the package, you leave 5 minutes later, and stalk out of the building while complaining loudly that you didn''t want to do business with this snooty place anyway.


    This has two functions.  First, you leave with nobody looking at you closely.  Secondly the elitist customers pat themself on the back for dealing with a business that cares about the fine sensibilities of its clients and clearly won''t let the common rabble in.


    This usually filters back to the higher-ups who employed you.  They''re much more likely to hire you in the future when you enhance their reputation as well as deliver their clandestine packages safely.


    <<Now that you have me thinking about it, there was something rather strange that started around the time I turned 17.  Every time before I went in to pick something up, I''d sorta psych myself up. You know, getting in character.  Once in a while, when I managed to really get into the groove, it seemed like people inside didn''t notice me at all unless I spoke to them.  Weird, huh?>>


    Back to covers.  Our expeditions all over the Northwest fishing and painting were great misdirection for our other businesses.  Not to mention that we made a bunch of useful contacts.  Plus, after four years of living in Fresno, the idea of getting outdoors rather than staying inside under air conditioning had a great deal of appeal.  As a matter of fact, we discovered that we truly loved the Northwest.


    As I was getting a bit too old for the teen act, it was fortuitous that I could now pick things up under the guise of delivering paintings.  Not to mention that the courier fees were augmented by what I charged for the paintings.  That helped keep the income taxes straight -- and gave the client another tax writeoff.


    Of course we pay taxes!  Me under my real name, Karla Knight, and Jane through her business.  No matter what bad publicity it may have had recently, you REALLY don''t want the IRS after you for non-payment of taxes.  Especially if they might find out that you have an under-age child living with you who isn''t related.


    Speaking of said under-age child,  some of you might be wondering why I went to so much trouble to keep Jane with me.  After all, it was hard, and sorta illegal.  In the beginning, why didn''t I just give Child Welfare a call myself and insist that we had to stay together?  My answer to that?


    Would you mind terribly if I called you a moron, with a capital M?  I''ll admit that a few workers there try to do their best to make the system work properly.  Unfortunately there''s too few of them and too much rigidity in the system.  Not to mention that many of the workers are dead-enders who are desperate to keep their jobs in an era of downsizing and poor economy.  To do that you can''t make waves.


    So, let''s see, two minor kids,  11 years apart in age, and not related to each other.  Want to stay together?  Tough luck.  Both straight into foster care, different homes.  Nobody would want both of them anyway -- not that anyone would bother to check first.  End of the matter and a commendation for prompt action, or at least no reprimands.


    Let me tell you now, nobody understands an abandoned kid like another abandoned kid.  There was no way in hell that I was going to leave Jane to the not-so-tender mercies of the state bureaucracy.  That''s the end of that, and don''t bring it up again, OK?

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 2

    Not much happened during the next four years.  We settled down into the moderately well-off middle class and tried to keep a fairly low profile.  Jane blended in just fine at school, made lots of friends, had a ball.


    --------------------


    Thursday June 5, 2013   Salem, Oregon


    Jane here.


    I''m a bit worried about Mama.  She''s been acting strange lately.  She looks happy and then suddenly looks like she''s about to cry.  I''d think that she was getting hormonal, except that she''s only 30.  If this keeps up I think I''m going to have to sit her down and have a long talk with her.


    OK, right, I''ll do just that.   I''ll do it right after graduation.


    Signing off.


    Lately Jane''s been acting fairly strange, secretive even.  Heck yes, I know she''s supposed to be secretive, given her security business, but this is stranger than that.  No, it''s not because she''s a teenager and wants space without parental interference.


    It started right when she began talking about graduation.  Sure, she''s 19 compared to most kids'' 18, but nobody at school had ever hassled her about it.  (When we first arrived, she''d told them that she''d been ill for most of a year with mononucleosis, and that''d been the end of that.)


    --------------------


    Well, Jane graduates in less than an hour.  It''s been a long time coming.  I have to admit that I''m still looking over my shoulder for the Child Welfare people.  So far I haven''t seen any evidence that those in Oregon are any more enlightened than those in Texas or California, and believe me I''ve been watching for them.


    --------------------


    Sprague stadium, June 7, 2013, 7 PM.


    I think I''m going to remember this date and time for the rest of my life.  For one thing I cried.  Yeah I know, many parents cry or at least get teary-eyed when their kids graduate, but this was a bit beyond the usual.


    To call them great, wracking sobs would be a kindness.  I soaked all three packages of tissues in my purse in the first 15 minutes.  After that I just bent over, shook, and soaked my dress with my tears.  Thank God that I wore black!  I never saw Jane graduate.  I was too busy staring at the floor and trying not to make any noise.


    What was wrong you ask?  Well nothing was exactly wrong.  It just finally hit me.  When I was 10 and my father beat me so hard that he ruptured my uterus and right ovary, and after the emergency surgery to save my life was over, I was told that children weren''t an option for me.  It was obviously true, even to a ten year old.  No uterus, no kids.  But that bastard of a surgeon could have at least pretended to be sympathetic.


    The look on his face said it all.  One more of those who won''t be littering the town with kids who will grow up on welfare.  I wanted to bash in his face, but I wasn''t physically able at the time, and the opportunity passed while I was still healing.


    I don''t know about you, but most 10-year-old girls still have dreams of family and children.  Even me, which I guess is rather surprising seeing that my mom died from falling down the stairs when I was 5.  After that my father bedded every willing female he could find who was of legal age and maybe a few who weren''t quite there yet.


    While I was still in the hospital, they arrested him for what he''d done to me.  Right before they discharged me, the hospital chaplain came to see me.  After some meaningless conversation, he finally got around to the real reason he''d come.   He asked me if I''d lost faith in God.


    I think that my response upset him and surprised him at the same time.  That was the first time I''d laughed since my mama was killed.


    I told him that of course I had.  I no longer had to worry about faith.  I knew that God existed.  If He didn''t, how could anyone explain why my randy goat of a father never touched me?  I think that shocked the preacher more than anything else.  After all, little girls of 10 weren''t supposed to know about such things.


    While beating your wife might slide by (with sanctimonious comments by the more "upright" members of the community about how the "lower class" treats its womenfolk), the one thing you didn''t do in our part of West Texas was hurt a child. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    It didn''t take long until the district attorney re-opened the investigation of my mother''s death, had her body exhumed, and had a full autopsy done.  Shortly thereafter my father was also charged with murder.


    The trial for what he''d done to me was about an hour long.  Even the public defender seemed to be disgusted by him.


    The murder trial the next week lasted all of 2 days.  The jury deliberated for 20 minutes.  They asked the judge only one question: "Which of the things he''s charged with will get him the longest sentence?"


    Right now he''s serving consecutive sentences of 30 years to life.  That''s enough for me.


    Naturally I ended up in foster care.  That was a total disaster.  I got stuck with a family of Born  Againers who seemed to feel some overwhelming need to preach at me for about 15 minutes twice a day.  They didn''t seem to care when I told them that I''d already found God.  I had to see Him the way that they looked at Him or it didn''t count somehow.


    One day, about 2 or 3 months after I''d been "placed," I was hanging out at the strip mall, just to put off going "home" to my foster family.  There was only so much preaching I could take, and lately they''d looked like they might up it to three times a day.   While I was busy doing nothing in particular, one of the kids that I sorta knew from school ran up to me, all excited like.


    "Karla.  Karla!  Did ya hear about it?  Huh?  Everyone''s talking about it!  He went an'' got hisself killed!"


    "Watcha mean Greg?  Who was it got killed?"


    <<Yes, yes.  I didn''t speak all that well back then.  Once I was on my own, I worked hard to learn to talk like everyone else so I could blend in better.>>


    "Well, anyways, it was that there doc at the hospital.  You know.  The one what operated on ya."


    "Woah!  How''d it come down?"


    "Well Karla, what happened was this, leastwise tha''s what ah heered."


    He rubbed his hands together briskly.  Good gossip was a very rare commodity in small towns, and he wanted to savor it as he told the story.


    "You know Mr. Smithers, the one what works at the cement plant?  Well, what happened was he hurt his leg an'' got sent home early.  Seems that he decided that he weren''t hurt all that bad though, so he went an'' picked up a new shotgun that he''d ordered and went to the range to try ''er out.


    "Afterwards he headed on home, seeing''s as it was only about 3 PM, an'' the bars wasn''t open yet."


    <<Nope, not in our town.  The bars were never open before 6 PM, so people had to at least go home and eat before they went out and got drunk.>>


    "So here''s whut happens next.  He got hisself home an'' heered noises from the bedroom.  So nacherly he went to see whut was whut.  An'' guess what he seed?"


    Greg didn''t wait for me to answer, he was in way too much of a hurry to hear himself talking.  "His wife, she was in bed with that Doctor Howell.  I guess that they hadn''t done much yet, cause they was still wearing their grundies.


    "Well, that doc he got out of bed and tried to jump Mr. Smithers.  Turns out that was pretty stupid seeing as how Mr. Smithers still had his new shotgun in his hands.  He shot the doc right about the time he landed on him.  Least that''s what I heered from the guys what picked up the body.


    "See, one of them perrymedics is mah cousin, an'' he tells me evry''thing."


    (Greg was preening a bit.  Stupid boys.  They think that showing off will get them attention.  Well, I guess it will, just not the kind that they want.)


    "Turns out that the doc, he was working his way through the gals what works at the hospital.  Tole ''em that iffen they didn''t sleep with ''im, he''d get ''em fired.  An'' you knows how bad things are hereabouts right now.


    "Seems that the body was right where Mr. Smithers said it was.  There was blood, lots of blood, but it was all by the door and all over Mr. Smithers too.  So that''s that.  No more Doc Howell.  Ain''t that summthin?"


    "Surely ''tis Greg.  How ''bout that?"


    All the details were in the paper that week.  Yes, a weekly paper.  It''s not a big town, but they did put out a special edition so as not to make folks wait on it.  Besides, I expect that they sold a helluva lot more copies than they usually did.


    Seems that Greg had it just about right.  Several women came forward and told essentially the same story as Mr. Smithers'' wife, only they''d not been saved at the last moment like she was.


    It also seems that, just maybe, the doctor had been trying to run away, seeing as how his pants and shoes were lying next to his body.  Maybe he wasn''t attacking Mr. Smithers at all.


    Of course, that didn''t matter much to the folks in town.  What they knew was that he''d raped several people''s wives after threatening them.  They were so angry that there wasn''t much of an investigation.  The County Attorney decided that someone attacking a man in his home deserved whatever he got.  Much later it turned out that one of the County Attorney''s second cousins had been one of the women the doc had raped, but by then nobody cared any more.


    I can''t honestly say that I was bothered much by it.  What I really felt, when I had the leisure to look at my feelings several years later, was relief.  Relief based on the realization that he wasn''t going to be doing to anyone else what he''d done to me.


    What do I mean?


    When I''d turned 18, I''d gotten ahold of my records from the hospital and had a good surgeon review them.  I hadn''t needed a hysterectomy at all.  The damage could have been repaired.  Either he was too lazy to do the surgery right, or he''d just figured that he had a good excuse to sterilize a black woman.  Considering his attitude toward me in the hospital, I didn''t really need to guess which it was.


    Well, so much for that.  Afterwards I put up with foster care as best I could.  At 12 I decided that I''d learned enough about how to get by, so I left.  Besides, if I hadn''t left, I''d have either gone crazy or killed someone myself.


    Three years later I found Jane, and you know the story from there.


    <<Now what?  Oh. I said I was abandoned didn''t I?  Well what else would you call it?  Those people who took me in never thought, even once, about my needs.  If you don''t care for your children -- emotionally as well as physically -- isn''t that abandonment, regardless of whether or not you still live together?  I rest my case.>>

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 3

    So, yes, I cried at Jane''s graduation.  Someone like me, who had lived for years knowing that she''d never have children, had a child.  Any child might have satisfied that particular yearning, but someone like Jane only confirmed my awareness of God''s existence.  There couldn''t be any other child on the face of the Earth as wonderful as her!


    At about the same time that my sob fest had mostly tapered off, the graduation ceremony ended.  I managed to sit up and look around for Jane, and pretty soon I spotted her just as she emerged from a group of her friends and made her way toward me.


    "Hey Mama.  You look like you could use some cheering up.  Fortunately  I have something for you that ought to do the job and then some.  Don''t look at it until you get home though.  I hope that you like it."


    Now that was something new.   The graduate giving the parent a present?  And she looked nervous.  I''d never seen her quite like that before.


    "Oh, by the way Mama, we''re all going out to Paddington''s for pizza.  I should be home before 11 though.  If you''re still up when I get home, there are some things I think we ought to talk about."


    "All right sweeting.  Do you need any money?"


    Jane started laughing and didn''t quit for almost a minute.  As I was about to ask her what was so freaking funny, she said, "Ah, no Mama, I don''t need any money.  After all, I own the franchise at the location we''re going to."


    With that, she flounced off to her friends.  I did notice,  while I was picking my chin up off the floor, that she turned her head and smirked at me just before they all left.


    She was right.  We definitely had something to discuss when she got home.


    In the meantime, I''d start with whatever was in the rather thick envelope that she''d given me -- as soon as I got home.  No way that I''d ever read something important in public.  There''s no telling who might be watching.


    What?  Me?  Paranoid?   You damn well better believe it.  My paranoia got me this far.  I''m not about to let go of it now.


    Right, driving home, sensibly just a bit below the speed limit given all the traffic -- while wanting the whole way to scream at everyone in front of me to get the hell out of the way, I''m in a freaking hurry -- and floor it.  Very proud of myself that I didn''t.  (We have to take what little victories in life that we can.)


    Got home intact, walked through the door, calmly, and got a letter opener.  If I tore whatever was inside by ripping it open, I might damage the contents and be unable to read them.  Then I''d have to wait for Jane to get home and tell me what it had said, and patience and I had only a nodding acquaintance.


    Inside was a letter and another sealed envelope.  The letter was from Jane.  The sealed envelope was from the Marion County court.


    OK. Letter first:


    Mama, I''m a bit nervous about this, so I didn''t trust myself to talk to you without breaking down crying.  I hope that this pleases you.  It certainly made me very happy.


    You''ve been looking a bit down lately, so I''ve held onto this in hopes that it will cheer you up.


    You seem to have forgotten something during our journey together.  Time has passed.  All these years you''ve been protecting us from the very real threat from the Children''s Services people.  I guess you sorta forgot that I turned 18 last year.  From that day onward there was nothing they could do any more.  They couldn''t, but I could and did.


    You''ve been there for me ever since the day you found me 15 years ago.  So I did something that will, hopefully, let you know that I''m going to be there for you from now on too.


    You did make one mistake about me.  You always assumed that I didn''t know my last name.  I never bothered to correct you because I had reasons for you not to know.  I also had a reason for not letting you know that I was also aware of my birthdate.  I''ll explain those reasons to you when I get home.  I''m pretty sure that you''ll still be awake when I get there...lol.


    So, go ahead and open the envelope from the Court.  I truly hope that it pleases you.  I can assure you that it made me extremely happy.


    OK, puzzlement and extreme curiosity now in place.  Satisfaction a few seconds away.


    I ripped the envelope open.


    <<Nope, no letter opener this time, I was in a hurry and there was nobody to watch me act like an idiot.  Of course that was inconsistent with what I''d said earlier.  So what?  Consistency is the same thing as predictability, and predictability in my line of work can be fatal.>>


    <<Oh.  You''re not buying that reason?  Dang.>>


    After reading the usual boring language that courts always seem to use, I got to the good part.  And it was very, very good.


    It appears that as of May 17, 2013 Jane Alicia Benton''s name was legally changed to Jane Alicia Knight.  Jane Alicia BENTON?


    Pinned to the back page of the court order was a note from Jane.


    Hey Mama.  Now our names are as one, same as our hearts.  Yes, I found out years ago that Knight is your real last name.  How doesn''t matter right now.  See you in a couple hours.


    This time I didn''t bother with Kleenex.  I ran to the closest bathroom, grabbed a towel and did a good job of soaking the whole thing.  Afterwards I tossed my dress toward the hamper, took a shower, and made some tea.  (Who knew that just crying could dehydrate you?)   Then I grabbed a good book -- which I pretended to read until Jane got home at 10:59.


    ---------------


    When I heard the door open, I put my book down, stood up, turned toward the door, took about three steps, and then made a total fool of myself.


    What I said was approximately as follows:


    "You...pizza.....court....name change....franchise....good time?.......money.... from where.......friends had fun?........What?!!!"


    While those profound words tripped merrily from my lips, I was waving my arms around like someone allergic to mosquitos does when a swarm has decided that she''d be a tasty lunch.


    Hi...it''s Jane again.   Well, what can I say?  Our memories of what happened are not quite the same.  She did get what she said approximately right, but from opening the door to that point was substantially different from how she told it.


    What happened is that I closed the door and turned around just in time to see her throw a book across the room, rocket up out of the chair like she was jet propelled, and start to run toward me, only to trip on the throw rug by her chair and fall flat on her face.


    Once she picked herself up off the floor, the sputtering, gesticulating, and total weirdness of her facial expressions almost set me off laughing, but I managed to hold it in and look calm and self-possessed (I hope).


    Mama''s turn now.


    Deep breaths, lots of deep breaths...  OK, make that slow, deep breaths.  If I keep hyperventilating, I might just pass out.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Hi Jane, did you have fun at YOUR pizza parlor?  How about you start there with the explanations and work up to the rest of it."


    "Hi Mama, I''m home.  Yes we did have fun.  They''re all nice kids.  Why don''t we sit down before we go any further?


    "Oh, and by the way, you might want to hang up your dress.  Knowing you, it ''s on the floor in the bathroom, and that''s going to cause wrinkles, and there''s not gonna be enough time to get it dry cleaned before you''re going to need it again."


    "Jane dear, what do you mean I''m going to need it again?  Just how often do you see me in anything but jeans and a t-shirt?"


    "Didn''t you want me to start with the pizza and then go into the other things Mama?"


    "Right. OK.  Sure, but maybe I''d better sit down first."


    Jane was rolling her eyes at me just like any other teenager does when the parent suggests doing something that the kid has already recommended.  Wisely, she kept her mouth shut.  One of the things I truly appreciate about her is her sense of timing and knowing when not to talk.  Even though she''s quite capable of going on and on about something that interests her, most of the time she''ll go through the day hardly talking at all.   It probably has something to do with her security business.


    "That''s it!  Your security business!  You made enough from that to buy a pizza franchise?"


    "Well sort of.  It''s kinda complicated.  Well, a LOT complicated.  Why don''t I tell you everything all at once and make it easier, OK?"


    I waved my hand in acquiescence, sat down in my chair, and grabbed my tea cup.  I''ve learned that whenever someone as intelligent as Jane says that something is going to be complicated, I''d better get comfortable, hunker down, and ride it out.


    "It''s like this Mama...  Things have gone a bit further than just installing security systems.  We''re into recovery as well, like when some business or bank gets hacked and a lot of funds are drained into an ''untraceable'' overseas account.


    "What we do is find those funds and recover them."


    About here Mama''s mouth was working like a fish out of water.


    "Jane honey, who is we?"


    "Oh, just me and my hackers."   Jane explained the setup, and as she probably expected, I saw the potential weak point right away.


    "Sweetie, that''s awfully dangerous.  Some of those people stealing all those funds from your clients have to be connected with some rather nasty crime syndicates!"


    "Mama, I may not be nearly as sneaky as you, but I understand at least that much.  We don''t just steal back the money.  We totally drain every bank account they have, including the ''secret'' ones in whatever banks they''re stashing their loot.


    "Their banks get an ordinary funds transfer order and the bank routing number and account number to send it to.  As soon as the transfer is complete, their database is overwritten showing that the transfer was to a different account number, in a different bank, in a different country.  To an account that doesn''t exist I might add.  That night the free space on the bank''s hard drives is overwritten with random data 35 times so there''s very little chance of reconstructing our earlier transfer.  We defrag the drive too just to be nice.


    "Ah ha!  I know that expression, you''re wondering about the offsite backups aren''t you."


    Jane grinned.  I love that smile of hers.


    "Every major bank backs up its data every few minutes, if not every few seconds, and even the small ones do dailies.  By the time the not-so-victimlike victim finds out what''s happened to him, or her, the backups will have been overwritten with the new data too.


    "Then we get nasty.  Usually by the time we''ve tracked down the money, we''ve uncovered all sorts of unpleasant business that the thieves have been involved in.   If not, before we drain them, we spend an extra week or two, or even a month, digging it up.


    "That data gets routed to the local police -- specifically to units that we are sure aren''t totally corrupt, or at least have it in for our thieves and will be happy to take them down.


    "When you''re broke and the police are after you, people rarely have time to mount even a token search for whoever stole their money."


    OK, sometimes you have to laugh and sometimes you have to be a parent.  Right about now I was having trouble figuring out which came first, so I tried both at the same time.  I think I sounded like an elephant seal in rut.


    Once I was able to talk properly again, I said: "Janie, you do realize that what you''re doing could land you in jail too, right?"


    She shrugged.  "Sure Mama, if they had any chance of figuring it out, and if someone complained, which they can''t and won''t.


    "A: They have no way of complaining since they''re broke and either on the run or in jail already, and B: if they did, they''d basically be confessing to a number of other crimes they committed and would end up getting longer sentences."


    All right then. Enough of the trying to sound parental.  I spent the next couple of minutes on my knees laughing my head off.   It felt much better than the crying I was doing earlier.


    "Wait a minute!"  I gasped when I finally had my brain turned back on.  "You said you took ALL of their money, not just what they stole from your clients."


    "You bet.  We have to, otherwise they might be able to hire someone to track us even if they''re in jail -- not that I expect that they could anyway, no matter how hard they tried."


    I hate smug and I told her so.  She grinned even more than before.


    While meditating on a teenager''s penchant for skipping the details and figuring that the girl on the side of goodness and truth always wins, thus not allowing for glitches, I had to admit that, after reviewing what she''d told me, it looked like she''d covered almost all the bases. What she''d left out I''d discuss with her later, no sense in puncturing her bubble so soon.


    "So, your share of this money so far has been, about what?"


    "Three quarters of a million dollars.  That''s before the proceeds of my investments, stock price appreciation, you know, that sort of thing."


    Time to go back to looking like a fish out of water.  If this keeps up my face is gonna get permanently deformed.


    "Three-fourths of a million, BEFORE profits.  So what''s the total now?"


    "Um...something over six million I think."


    "Jane dear, could you give me some time before you continue?  I think I''m going to need to go find a defibrillator for my heart when it stops, and I''m pretty sure it''s gonna be sometime in the next few minutes."


    I gave Jane my most dramatic "woe is me" look and swooned on the floor.   Next thing I knew Jane was on her knees and hugging me.


    "Mama, you''re the best.  I love you the mostest!"


    Once our hugfest ended I remembered something Jane had said earlier.


    "You said that I''d be needing my good dress again soon.  What were you talking about?"


    Jane flipped her hair over her shoulder, turned toward me and gave me that pixieish grin again.  "Why for my other graduations of course!  Sometimes you can be so silly, Mama!"  Her eyes were sparkling with humor and anticipation.


    "Other graduations?"  About then I was too tired both physically and emotionally to vent any more, so I just flopped into my chair and pretended to be composed.


    "Yes, my other graduations.  On Saturday, June 15th at OSU at 10:30 AM, I''ll get my master''s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences.  Then Sunday, June 16th, I get my bachelor''s degree in International Studies at PSU."


    "My major focus at PSU was on East Asian studies, and my minor one was on environmental sciences  --  primarily on ecosystems in the Amazon rainforest."


    "You are NOT getting away from coming with me to both of them.  I earned those degrees and I want to go through the graduation ceremonies and that''s that!"


    Jane was bent slightly forward with her hands on her hips and was managing to look quite fierce.


    I noticed, with some sense of pride I might add, that my hands only had a slight tremor as I put down my teacup this time.  "Two more degrees, a bachelor''s and a master''s?  Is there anything else you haven''t told me?  Like how you had time for them and how I knew nothing about it.  And perhaps about how you paid for them?  Stuff like that."


    "Time did get a bit tight now and then, but I managed.  As for the money, what the merit scholarships didn''t cover my business did.  I was able to write off most of it anyway.  Besides that, I needed to find something useful to do with all that money I stole.


    "I''d always wanted to learn Japanese and Korean, and getting paid to have that much fun was great!"


    "You were able to write it off?"


    "Sure, my business is security systems right?  So electrical engineering and computer sciences fall under the ''improving previously existing skills'' section of the IRS code.  100% write off on that."


    Right then and there I ran out of credulity and energy at the same time.


    "Janie, I''m going to bed, right now.  We can finish this up in the morning.  I need some sleep, and then some more sleep, and then maybe a few hours more.  Now that I think of it, forget morning. I''ll see you around lunch time."


    I staggered off to bed and collapsed across it.  I was probably asleep in about 10 seconds.


    Huh? You think I''d be awake all night worrying?  Not Karla Knight.  This was nothing compared to a lot of things that have happened to me.  Maybe not so many all at once, but quite a few of similar intensity.  So, see you all in the morning -- oops -- at lunchtime tomorrow.


    -----------


    If you believe that Mama will sleep till noon, you don''t know her well at all.  She''s always up by 6:30.  When she says that she''s going to sleep in, what she really means is that she''s going to do some serious thinking and/or research.


    As soon as she smells the coffee, she''ll be out here within three minutes.  Speaking of coffee, did you know that if it is brewed properly it''s never bitter but that it is naturally slightly sweet?  The bitterness is caused by using water that''s too hot and brewing it too fast.  To make it properly you have to pour water at about 180 degrees F over the ground coffee, very slowly, a little bit at a time.  Two minutes is about right. A bit of patience yields a superior product -- something that I''ve found useful to remember when I''m working.

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 4

    Morning arrived, and I was only slightly surprised to find that the world hadn''t ended after yesterday''s revelations.  First thing first, finish up my interrogation of Jane.


    <<What?  Do you think that when parents are digging answers out of recalcitrant teens that any word besides "interrogation" applies?  Every kid knows it.  What they''ll resent is your pretending that it isn''t an interrogation and that it''s supposed to be "for your own good."   A little tact goes a long way in preserving a relationship.  Don''t forget it, OK?>>


    I made a dignified entrance and gracefully approached the breakfast nook.  That was where the coffee aroma was coming from.  Just remember that for me in the mornings, "graceful" means that I didn''t trip on the throw rugs more than three times on the way down the hall.


    Once I''d had a few sips (all right, gulps) of coffee, I got started.   "Jane.  You told me last night that in addition to your high school work, you completed both a master''s degree and a bachelor''s, correct?  If my memory serves, I had you for Hapkido practice three nights a week, and you went out with your friends at least once almost every weekend.  Weren''t you a bit pressed for time?"


    Admire me.  I was looking out the window as I oh-so-carefully tossed this into the conversation.


    What I heard then was about the last thing I''d ever expected from Jane.  What she said was: "Urk..."


    I slowly turned my head around to look at her.  By the time I could see her face, all I saw was a pleasant smile.  Then she said, "It was a bit of a challenge, what with work and all, but I managed OK.  I even got a fair amount of sleep on most weekends."


    That''s when I got truly terrified.  She''d done a Wally right in front of me.  And... Oh, what''s a Wally?  Guess I''d better backtrack a bit.


    It happened just over 15 years ago, right before I found Jane.


    -----------------------


    His name was Wallace, according to the nametag.


    "Miss, you do realize that you were going 73 in a 65 MPH zone?  I''ll need to see your license, registration, and proof of insurance."


    Since I had none of those at the time, I realized that I was in just a little bit of trouble.  I''d turned around and reached toward the glove compartment, just to give myself a few seconds to think, when I heard a noise behind me.


    Yep, you guessed it!  "Urk...."   I turned around and looked at Wally.  He had a puzzled look on his face and his eyes were sorta blank.  Then he refocused on me.


    "Right Miss, everything looks to be in order.  Given that it''s your first time, I''m gonna give you a bye, but don''t EVER let me find out that you''ve been speeding like this again!"


    "Sure Officer Wallace. You can be absolutely certain that I won''t."


    "Good girl.  You take care now.  Bye."


    And just like that, he turned, strolled back to his car and drove off.  The shakes lasted several minutes.  I''d been in a world of hurt, and suddenly everything was just fine.


    "What in the seven hells just happened?!"   I shouted it at the sky but, as expected, there wasn''t any answer.  All I could do at the time was drive off and resolve to be a LOT more careful in the future.


    Just when I''d about managed to convince myself that I''d imagined what had happened to Wally, I got fish-slapped with it again.  It happened about a year before we moved to Fresno.   I''d broken into some warehouse to recover an item that had been stolen from a client.


    I have to admit that I was still lacking experience and had an excess of overconfidence then.  Even so it wasn''t really my fault that, while I was being really quiet and sneaky, I backed up into the security zombie.  (He was at least 6'' 5", weighed about 300 pounds, and grunted.  That''s close enough to a zombie for me.)  I turned around real slow like -- not like I could do anything else with a gigantic ham of a hand on my shoulder showing me which way to turn.  Next thing I knew he''d "Wally''d."  (Yeah, I know, I have a way with words.  It''s a talent.)


    Anyway, he went "Urk..." and froze with that vacant look in his eyes, so I did what was natural and ran.  Fast!


    No of course I didn''t look back.  I''d already made one mistake, and I wasn''t going to chance looking back at him when I might run into a wall if I wasn''t watching where I was going.


    <<You didn''t really think that running courier jobs was all I did, did you?  How dense can you be.  Look at Jane. Even she has a sideline.


    What''re you laughing for?  Huh?  "Pot calling the kettle black?"  I didn''t know about her sideline till the night before and I''m accusing you being an idiot for not knowing that I had one?  Ah, well, uh...moving right along.>>


    ----------------


    Anyway, I got up and strolled across the living room, down the hall, and into my bedroom.  Then I went to the computer and started pulling up degree requirements and exam schedules for both the universities.


    Half an hour later I felt worse than I had before.  Even allowing for the fact that OSU and PSU have advanced placement testing, and OSU allows completion of some course material online, there was absolutely no way that she''d had anywhere near enough time to do all of it.  And that didn''t count the time needed for meeting the high school graduation requirements.


    Not to mention that at least two of the final exams each year were scheduled for the exact same time and were in classrooms that were 60 miles apart.  And you had to be physically present for the finals, even if you did the rest of the coursework online.


    It was totally, completely impossible.  But, if Jane said that two more degrees were going to be handed out, then they would be handed out.  She never lies about anything, ever.


    I spent the next 20 minutes or so with head in my hands, trying to figure it out.  Finally I realized that there was only one thing I could do, so I gave up and rejoined the outside world.  Went down the hall and knocked on Jane''s door.  Eased my way in.  Question time.


    "Do you have any plans for this next week?"


    "Actually I do Mama, or to be precise, we do."


    "Huh?"  (Notice my witty reply -- I''m so proud of me sometimes.)


    "We''re going on vacation, to our favorite site up past Detroit Lake.  I''m gonna spend the next six days fishing, and you''re going to paint, and we''re gonna turn off our cell phones.  I''ve already arranged it with work, for both of us."


    She was rubbing her hands together and hopping up and down in excitement.


    "Right.  Sure.  Why not?  Say, I have a question for you.  How''d you manage final exams for all your classes?  Surely the timing was pretty tight now and then."


    "Urk....."  Damn!  She''d Wally''d on me AGAIN. The same puzzled face, and blank stare.  Then she came back to me and said. "Oh, it was pretty hard at times, and I may have been driving a bit fast once or twice, but it all worked out, didn''t it?  I''m really looking forward to seeing how much you cry at these next two graduations."


    After that she nattered along about nothing of any real consequence until we separated to raid our respective hobby/work rooms and packed up the car.  Then we set up the automatic feeders for the cats, and made sure that they had free access to their playroom.  One of Jane''s friends would check on them every day.  Finally we locked up the house, went to the Union station at Kuebler and Commercial, gassed up the car, and headed east on Highway 22 toward Detroit Lake.


    When Mama "casually" strolled into my room before I told her about our vacation plans, I knew she was up to something.  She''s really very good at being sneaky and covert and all that sort of thing, but I''ve lived with her for 15 years now and I know all her tricks...at least so I thought..


    After we talked, and she''d left to get ready for our trip, I had no idea what she''d been fishing for.   I only knew that she had been.  She really is much sneakier than I am.


    -------------------------


    I don''t have to tell you how scared I was. (OK, I''m writing this so I guess I do.)  The only times anyone had Wally''d on me was when I was in danger.  So what was so dangerous about Jane and her education?  I just couldn''t make the connection.  So I did what I usually do.  I let it go.  If it was all that important, I knew that whatever it was would pop its head up again eventually.


    So there we were, heading out to our favorite spot, between the North Santiam River and Duffy Lake.  I felt all the stress just sort of relax its way out of my shoulders.  I didn''t even feel all that worried about Jane''s degrees any more.  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    Jane''s degrees...  There was something...


    Why would I be worried about those?  I was really proud of her.  What''s to worry about?


    All of a sudden I realized that I did have something to worry about.   I was about to kill somebody.


    As we headed east, Jane alternated between looking at the scenery and looking at the inside of her purse. The incessant snapping sound of her opening and closing the clasp was making me want to shriek.  Either that or I was about to hurt someone.  Since the only one in range was quite capable of hurting me back, I went for the calm approach.


    "Stop it already.  You''re driving me crazy!  What is so interesting in your purse that''s more important than the scenery?   Which, I might add, is spectacular today."


    "Pull over for a minute Mama, and I''ll show you."


    "Right, pulling over...  OK, now give."


    Jane extracted a business card from one of her purse''s pockets and passed it to me.  First thing I noticed was the exceptional craftsmanship.  Maybe you don''t think of that with business cards, but that just means that you''ve never seen one done by an expert.


    This was full color, with a deep, almost indigo blue, metallic background.  In the upper left corner was a moon that was exactly at half full.  The lettering was in a silvery ink and said "Half Moon, LLC.  Karla Knight, Executive Director."  It also had a phone number I''d never seen before.


    I just stared at it for a while and admired it.  After a minute Jane started to fidget.  "Mama, say something."


    "What do you want me to say?  After everything else you''ve battered me with in the past 24 hours, what''s a company that I''ve never heard of that I seem to be managing?"


    "It''s supposed to represent both of us, the moon that is.  I''m the tall, blond, busty, gregarious one who works in the light.  You''re the short, dark, skinny, flat-chested,  black-haired, sneaky one who operates in darkness.  Fits us perfectly, right?"


    "WHO THE HELL IS FLAT CHESTED?!!"  I think I even managed to shake the car a bit with that explosion.


    Jane, being Jane, sat there and let the gale flow around her, then she pretended that I hadn''t almost blown out the windows and asked plaintively, "Now that I''m out of school, you do want us to work together, don''t you?"


    I''d never thought of it before, I''d been too busy worrying about getting caught by the Child Welfare people.  Now that that was no longer a factor in our lives, I really should have done some constructive thinking.


    "Actually, blending your security work with my ''sneaky'' work should turn out pretty well.  Especially when I get through reviewing your little funds appropriation sideline."  I tried glaring at her, but I knew it hadn''t worked when she just clapped her hands and laughed at me.


    I gave in a bit sooner than I''d intended.  What was irritating was that it was obvious that she knew it too.


    "All right I give.  When you''re right, you''re right.  I suppose that it''ll be easier to coordinate the fishing and painting trips we take when we need to hide what we''re really doing."


    -----------


    After that, Jane reverted to her usual behavior.   That is, she sat there and enjoyed the scenery, up until we got within about a half mile of our usual camp.  Then she pulled out her laptop and started working.


    When you frequent a particular site over and over it''s possible that unfriendlies know about it, and it''s prudent to take a few precautions.  Jane was checking her wireless sensor net, seeing which units had ceased working, checking the recorded movement patterns of other visitors, that sort of thing.  In the last couple hundred yards she had me pull over a few times so she could replace sensors that had malfunctioned.


    After we arrived, I set up camp while she set up shop and reviewed all the data that had been recorded since our last visit.


    When we''d both finished, I asked, "Jane honey, doesn''t it seem that your lust for security has gone just a TAD overboard?  I mean you have a complete sensor network way out here in the woods, and you keep it active all year."


    "Look who''s talking.  Who is it that patrols the house and checks the scan records twice every night lately?"


    I just assumed my most lofty expression and didn''t deign to answer her, at least until the implications of what we''d both just said sank in.


    That''s when we started comparing notes, which made me even more nervous.  Seems that we''d both gradually ramped up our security measures starting about 6 months earlier.


    Paranoid you say?  Seeing things that weren''t there?  Well, yes, that was exactly the problem.  We''d never said a single word to each other about it, but over those past several months the security measures we''d added would do just fine for Fort Knox much less an ordinary looking, though rather large, home sitting on 15 acres at the edge of a moderate-sized city.


    Not only that, but Jane had had her hackers sifting for even the slightest sign of threat to her organization, and I''d been doing something similar through my contacts.


    And why had we done it?  The problem was that neither of us had even the slightest idea.  Even so, neither of us was willing to reduce our efforts to protect ourselves against whomever or whatever was looking for us.


    It was the chance that it might be the latter that scared both of us the most.


    When we finished our mutual paranoia session, there was still a fair amount of light left.  There weren''t any more precautions that we knew how to take, so we figured that we might as well have some fun before bedtime.  Jane slipped into the stream with her rod and flies, and I set up my easel and started work on a sunset view of a nearby ridge.


    Later, when it got too dark for either of us to continue, we had dinner and sat and talked about nothing in particular for an hour or so, just enjoying each others'' company.  Then I asked the other question I had.  You know, the one I''d forgotten to ask her the day she graduated.


    "So, uh, sweetie, what was it about your name and your birthday that you didn''t want to tell me?"


    She started to chuckle.  It sorta just burbled at first then turned into a full-blown laugh fest, complete with a choking episode at the end.


    "Well I guess I''d better start with the day you found me.  The truth is that I hadn''t been abandoned by my parents, I''d escaped."


    "WTF?"


    <<Notice that I didn''t quite swear, at least technically not.   Parents need to show a calm, controlled face to their kids.  Well, as often as possible.>>


    "It was like this.  They were both con artists, and there were also the drugs that they sold on the side.  I''m not sure which ones.  I may be unusually smart, but I was only 4 years old, and I didn''t know much back then.


    "Anway, I heard them talking about selling me as soon as they got to Flagstaff.  That''s when I decided I''d better get away.  So when they stopped at Amboy for a joint, I snuck out of the car and hid around the corner of the building.  Since they were both stoned, I figured that they wouldn''t notice for at least a couple hours, especially as I usually hid under some blankets in the back of the car when we were traveling.


    "There was just one itty-bitty problem.  I''d sorta not thought about what to do after I got away.  It was a good thing that you came along, or I''d have been a mummy within a day or two.  I had no idea that the gas station had been closed."


    "They were going to SELL YOU!"  I think I may have been foaming at the mouth about then.  I do know that I sprayed spit over a fairly wide area.


    "Yep.  Figured to get enough for a new stake.  They''d decided to go into drugs full time. They did pretty well for a few years -- until I was 17 actually."


    "How''d you know that?  Never mind, stupid question given what you''ve told me about your network.  Go on with your story."


    She gave me that little pixie grin that she''d been practicing since she was six.  I still fall for it. "I would if you''d stop interrupting me."


    I sat up straight, put my hands in my lap and managed, somehow, to look a lot more composed than I felt.  At least I think I did.  Seems it was good enough, because she started her story again.


    "OK.  When I was 16 I had my hackers start looking for them.  We found them a few weeks later, and I started tracking them off and on, watching what they did to people.  I had no way to stop them...unfortunately.  But, what I could do was make sure that somehow, just somehow, the police always found out about what they were doing.  They always got out of town just ahead of the cops, usually with almost nothing.  It seems that someone tipped them off a few minutes before the cops got there, every single time.  I can''t imagine who it might have been."


    Jane put her hands behind her back, tilted her head sideways, and whistled innocently for a few seconds.


    I had a bit of trouble not sputtering again, but I masterfully held it in.


    "I imagine that it drove them crazy after spending weeks to months setting up their next major score.  After about a year, they quit the drug idea and went back to scamming people.  That''s when I got them.


    "They''d cleaned out a family from Costa Rica that had recently arrived in the US.  Took them for everything.  I did a background check on the family and learned something very interesting.


    "By the way, did you ever see the movie ''Nine to Five'', Mama?"


    "Oh my God!  Jane, get on with the story.  Now isn''t the time to talk about movies!"


    "Actually it is Mama.  Have you seen it?"


    "Yes, I''ve seen it, several times.  It''s a great movie about what sneaky women can do to an arrogant boss.  So what?"


    "It got me to thinking is what.  Turns out that their latest victims still had relatives in Costa Rica, so that was all I needed to wrap things up."


    "HUH?"  (Once again my great vocabulary manifested itself.  What can I say?)


    "This time I got the local sheriff and the FBI after them.  As usual, I warned them, but only after I''d had some information planted in the lobby of the motel where they were staying.  Specifically some brochures on the wonders of traveling on cargo ships rather than on the cruise lines.  Seems that a number have cabins that they rent out to tourists who want to travel but don''t like the cruise ship atmosphere.


    "The only way out of town for them was through the harbor.  The Feds had blocked everything else off -- airport, bus lines, and such.  The local cops were checking every car that left town that looked anything like my parents''.


    "Soooo, my parents took passage on one of the smaller "tourist" freighters that had a shallow enough draft to fit in the local harbor.  It was heading for Costa Rica.  Quite a coincidence, don''t you think?"


    Given that coincidences were as likely in Jane''s life as an asteroid strike on New York City was tomorrow, my antennae were suddenly all aquiver.


    "And you know, somehow it turned out that the uncle of that couple who had been scammed owned the freighter.


    "Do you remember what happened to Dabney Coleman''s character at the end of Nine to Five?"


    " Of course I do.  He got captured by Amazons and taken off to be their slave for the rest of his li... `Oh my freaking god!  You didn''t!?"


    "Of course not, I didn''t do anything. It was the victim''s uncle who did it.


    "Right now my parents are seven miles from the nearest village, working on a banana plantation.  It''s quite primitive you know.  No running water, an outhouse, lots of mosquitos and biting flies.  Must not be very pleasant.  Somehow I suspect that they''ll be spending the rest of their miserable lives there."


    OK.  Now I really, for the first time, truly understood what ROFLMAO means.  I found myself rolling on the ground howling.  When I finally got it under control, Jane spoke to me, very softly, and with tears in her eyes.


    "Your hatred of my parents has been eating you alive for 15 years now.  Are you ready to let it go?"


    I looked inside myself for a bit and realized that a knot in my stomach that I hadn''t realized was there was making itself obvious by its absence.


    "Yes honey, I think I am.  Thank you."


    There was no way that there could be an encore to that, so we had a hug then crawled into our tent and went to sleep.

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 5

    It was probably about 6:00 AM when I woke up, about usual for me when we were in the woods.  Also as usual when we were camping, Jane was already up.   I crawled out of the tent fully expecting to see her fishing already, which I did.  What I didn''t expect to see was her fishing and glowing.  It wasn''t very bright, but she was definitely glowing.


    Bringing my intellect into full action, I walked toward her and said, "Jane, you''re ah...glowing."


    She looked down at herself and then at me and said, "I do believe you''re right.  Probably because of a combination of the fog, the early dawn light, and a bit of phosphorescent algae.  Nothing unusual."


    Sounded good, except for one thing.  What was glowing was her face and hands, and her hair. Nothing else, and it was slowly getting brighter.


    When Jane noticed that I wasn''t buying it, she said, in a very gentle voice, "Mama you don''t need to know yet.  Why don''t you go back to bed for a while?"


    Mama turned around, crawled back into her sleeping bag, and went to sleep.  I just stood there wondering what had just happened, when SHE came.  Not that I saw anything, but I felt her presence.


    Automatically I tried to curtsy, but she stopped me with a laugh.  "You probably don''t want to do that when you''re chest deep in water, do you?"


    "Sorry My Lady, it''s just automatic when I meet you.  Can''t help myself, don''t you know."


    She laughed again.  "And you''re in the middle of a stream fishing. That''s hardly surprising I guess.  You always did love to fish."


    "You know me all too well don''t you?  But you know that no true Scot could pass by any stream without his hand itching for a rod, you ken?


    "Oh, by the way, who are you exactly, and what''s going on here?"


    Another soft, tinkling laugh.  Then she said, "You don''t really need to know yet either.  It''s still a bit too early for both of you, so, why don''t you go back to sleep for a while too."


    I shook myself a bit and found myself staring at an eddy that I''d planned on working on later in the morning.  I was absolutely sure that there was a big one in their somewhere. And there was...something else.  I''d been talking to someone?  Nah, not possible, the only person within a mile was Mama and she was still asleep. Guess I was still sort of asleep too.


    I started another cast; long, slow, and gentle and let the fly kiss the surface of the water.  This was going to be a very good vacation.


    ------------------


    When I got up that morning my face must have shown that I was puzzling at something because Jane asked me, "Why''re you wearing your thinking cap so early in the morning?"


    "What? Oh. Yeah.  Well I had this really strange dream.  I was living somewhere in northern Italy and I was married to a priest of all things.  You were there too, but you were so tall that people called you ''the tree woman''."


    Janie laughed.  "Maybe you were remembering a past life or something."


    "Yeah.  Right.  Last I looked, priests couldn''t get married."


    "Oh, well, guess you''re right Mama.  It was a silly idea, but, now that you''re awake, how about I make us some breakfast?"


    Once we''d finished eating and cleaning up, I caught Jane right before she picked up her rod.  "There''ll be no more slacking for you on this trip.  Get ready to start sparring."


    "AH...MOM... Do I have to?"  She had the whine down PERFECTLY.


    "Much better Jane. You have the phrasing and intonation exactly. Now go put on your gi, it''s past time for me to see if you''re ready for your 3rd Dan."


    "Geez Mama, why didn''t you say so at the beginning?"


    She scampered back into the tent and starting throwing clothes around.  She came back out stood across from me and bowed to her sensei.


    "Very well. Is the student ready?"


    "Yes Master."


    "Very well.  Begin!"


    She attacked, I countered, and then we just existed in the moment and did our best to beat the shit out of each other.  I don''t mean that we lost control and went wild.  It was as controlled and precise as any ballet.  It was just, potentially, exceedingly deadly.


    As her instructor, I didn''t go easy on her.  I kept her at it for almost an hour before I called a halt.  If I weren''t already training her 3 times a week, it could have been 6 hours overall, but the whole purpose of the exercise was for her to realize how good she was.  I knew already.  If I didn''t, it would have meant that I was unfit to teach a beginning student much less her.


    "Halt!"


    Jane stopped and stood at attention.


    "Staff now.  Go fetch."


    She went to the car and brought out our staves.  They were short, only 5 feet long, but they were solid oak, which made up quite a bit for their small size.


    <<Yes, a 5 foot staff is as tall as I am.  So I like that length, OK?>>


    Another 20 minutes of staff work and I called a halt again.


    "Attention!"


    Jane snapped to and waited attentively.


    "I have assessed your performance.  You are qualified for 3rd Dan.  Congratulations."


    "Thank you, sensei!"


    "Dismissed!"


    Then we collapsed on each other laughing.  We walked arm in arm to the stream and jumped into a lovely, still pool.


    <<Do you have any idea how much you stink after an hour and a half of a full contact workout?  No, deodorants usually don''t help much either.>>


    Later when we we''d draped our gi''s over some rocks and were letting the sun dry them and us while we wrung out our hair I said, "I think I''m ready for 7th Dan.  Next time I''m near Seattle I think I''ll drop by and let Master Oh beat the crap out of me and we''ll see if I''m right."


    Jane gushed, "Awesome!  Cool!"


    "How much of that was real and how much acting?  You''re getting good enough that I can''t tell for sure any more."The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "About half and half.  I''m really proud of you Mama.  Now, can I get back to fishing?"


    I doubled over laughing. Didn''t say anything. Didn''t have to.  The disgusted look on her face as she stalked away was more than enough to satisfy me.


    Five days later, on the 14th, we drove back down the hill toward Salem and turned our phones on.


    Isn''t it surprising that the tiniest of actions can have repercussions that affect millions of people?


    ----------------------


    I''d had four calls while we were gone.


    "Jane, how many calls for you?"


    "Three."


    "OH SHIT!"  Simultaneous, or close enough, from both of us.


    Before I go on, I guess I''d better explain.


    My people were under strict instructions -- no, not just strict, but threat of death strict -- NEVER to call about something more than once.


    From the way Jane reacted, her instructions were similar.


    All my messages were variations on the same theme, call RIGHT NOW.


    Checked with Jane, hers were the same.


    "Damn. They really are after us."  Again that eerie synchrony.


    Pulled off the road.  We made our calls.  Our messages were about the same business, just different aspects thereof.


    Mine was that there had been a break-in and an enormously valuable, and, unfortunately, quite compact item had been stolen.  Said business was, naturally, a branch of my largest and most lucrative customer.  They wanted me to fetch it back for them.


    Jane''s seemed to be about the same break-in but only mentioned the theft of a singular flash drive with half of the security codes for access to what was a large segment of said business'' new project development data.


    "OK, they, whoever they are, are after us.  Figuring out who they are and why they want us are our first priorities, agreed?"


    "Right Mama.  Then we need to recover what they stole."


    "You should...now wait a minute, this doesn''t make sense.  You can just rewrite the security codes, can''t you?  Why would they steal them in the first place?"


    "Unfortunately not this time Mama.  The idiots in charge insisted that they wanted hard-wired security with the only access being over their air-gapped intranet.  I can''t redo it without traveling for about two weeks to their various branches to reset the codes manually.  They can''t do it.  Part of their security protocol is a stipulation that only I can.  And we can''t shut down the company intranet as over 90% of their day-to-day traffic travels over it.


    "They CAN shut down access to the new project sites easily enough, so that the codes can''t be used, but then they can''t access that data either.  It''s a pretty good delaying tactic if there''s a competitor working on a similar project and wants some catch-up time.  The only fast way to get things up and running again is to recover the current codes -- and make sure that whoever stole them can''t use them.  That''s what''s puzzling me.  The thief can''t use the codes unless he or she walks into a site and accesses the network from there.  There''s no access over the internet.  With the increased security at all those sites now, getting inside would be almost impossible."


    "Hmm, you''re right Jane.  But that doesn''t explain my side of it.  As the Chinese would say: ''Coincidence is the meeting of two things that were already heading toward each other that you just didn''t see''."


    "Then we''re back to the first hypothesis, aren''t we Mama?  Someone out there wants us. But they did reveal something important.  They don''t know who we are."


    "Right. If they did, they''d have come after us directly.  Looks like our use of proxys has come in pretty handy."


    <<Guess I''d better explain that.  You remember when I told you earlier about my disguises when picking up packages?  Well, it goes beyond that.


    Every time I do a special delivery, I do it as a different person and in a car that fits my current persona.  I buy a different make, model, and color each time.  They may look really scruffy or quite well taken care of.  The only requirement is that they run well, that they cost under $2000, and are being sold by a private individual, not a business.  You''d be surprised at how many cars fit that description.


    Anyway...  Somehow, none of the cars are ever registered or insured after I buy them, at least not by me.  Once I''ve completed my run, I donate them to some local charity.  I''ll hand them the transfer papers -- already signed by the previous owner, and then I just walk away, change my looks in a quiet public restroom, and take my own car or some sort of public transportation home.  Since it always happens within two days of my buying the car (cash only of course), nobody ever notices, except maybe the accountant for the original seller.


    Why?  All of them get letters from the charities I gave them to, usually just before Christmas, thanking them for their donations and also usually with something in the letter implying that they wouldn''t mind getting another donation please, it being the "Holiday Season" and all.


    I''ve noticed that most people are a bit greedy.  When looking at hundreds of dollars of tax deductions, it''s a very rare person who will turn it down by insisting that they''d never made the donation, especially when the paper trail proves that they did.  By the time they get those letters, even the faintest memory of who bought the car is usually long gone.  Besides, they didn''t see ME anyway, they saw some other person.


    Yes I know, to run those kind of expenses and still make a profit, my fees have to be high.  OK extremely high.  But, I''m the best, and the customers all know it.  Whenever they hire me, they KNOW that it will be a quick, safe, and rapid delivery.  Nobody is going to entrust something that may be worth millions to just anyone.  Besides, if your fees aren''t high enough, they don''t take you seriously.  They figure that if you don''t charge very much, you aren''t very good.  Idiotic but true.>>


    -----------------


    OK, my turn.  Mama can be a bit long-winded at times, but I''ll have to admit that, just this once, her explanation was about as short as it could be...


    Anyway, I use a similar, but MUCH more complicated system.  Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING my people do is encrypted.  Passwords are a minimum of 30 characters and must be changed every 4 to 5 weeks.  (It varies randomly.)  In addition, any access to truly important data, such as sensitive employee records (like those showing who my hackers are), requires both a retinal scan and fingerprint scan in addition to the password. Nobody has access to that but me.


    We farm out surveillance on the homes we protect.  The ah...special sites...we monitor ourselves, over the internet of course, there''s no other way.  But, if there''s a situation, we encrypt all data and it can''t be decrypted until it is hand carried to a system that is NOT connected to the internet.  Whatever drive the data is on is scanned for viruses, worms, rootkits, trojans, etc. before the data is copied onto the transport drive.  After it''s copied it''s scanned again, then once again at the delivery site by a separate stand-alone system, then finally again just before it is decrypted by yet another system.


    (I''m sure that you realize by now that my fees are substantially higher than Mama''s.)


    Every time we need to physically transfer data, a courier is called to the office, from a different courier company each time.  They''re sent to either Seattle, or San Francisco, where they hand their packages to one of my employees, who then takes the package home.  Once they get there, they shred it.


    Of course it''s a dummy package, geez!


    The real data is hand carried from the actual monitoring site, which is nowhere near our official office in Eugene, and eventually delivered to me, always by one of four employees.  Somehow, each employee would swear that the person that they deliver to is different from the one the others see.  Imagine that!


    When it comes time to disburse funds to my hacker network, it''s sent at the direction of an employee who lives in a rural area of Africa, via a satellite link.  (Some people LIKE living way out in the boonies -- fortunately for me.)


    Nobody knows that I''m the boss.  The most anyone knows is that I''m another hacker who was involved in recruiting them.  I get paid the same as anyone else.  Nobody knows my real name either.  Just as I don''t know theirs. (Or so they think....LOL.)


    Say what?  You don''t buy all that BS?  Whatever could you mean?


    Nobody in their right mind would put up with that kind of password length and frequency change except for a truly paranoid and unstable person?


    (Mental batting of eyelashes.)


    All right, you meanie.  You win.  I insist on at least 16 characters, and they''re changed every 2-3 months.  I mean, really, nobody could get into our system from an external source.  If a password were to be entered incorrectly 3 times there''d be a 15 minute lockout.  If there were another 3 errors, that person''s access would be cut off until they came in to the office and reset their password there.


    If it turned out that the employee wasn''t the person trying to log into the system, we''d switch our private system over to a different web address.  (We have 4-5 parked and waiting for use at all times --  all quite different of course.)  That''s never happened, yet, but a bit of constructive paranoia is not a bad thing.  That''s one thing Mama taught me that''s engraved in my DNA by now.


    The 30 character and 4-5 week garbage is just to impress the rubes...ah...customers with how tight our security is.  It works too.


    Every time a customer asks about it during an installation or a service call, whomever is out there complains long and loud about how freaking paranoid the CEO is about security and the insanely long passwords required, and so on.


    Very impressive.  Wows the customers every time.  Figurative giggling here.


    Hey I''m only 19.  I''m still allowed to gush.


    Right then, back to the other world.

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 6

    "All right Mama.  As soon as we get home, I''ll check the sensor logs for the site and see what data we have, if any.  But I''ll bet that we have quite a bit."


    "Why do you say that Janie?  Any thief good enough to get past your security long enough to steal what they did would surely disable your sensors first."


    Jane gave me one of her rather fiendish chuckles.  She sorta scares me sometimes.


    "I''m sure that they did.  I HOPE that they did.  That way they probably didn''t take the time to search for the ones that weren''t on the blueprints, or at least not all of them."


    (The darn building inspectors insist that anything electrical has to have blueprints and a physical inspection to make sure that it''s safe.  As if any of them could possibly understand what I''m installing.  I''d flip my hair here and make some sort of snobbish sniffing noise, but, since you couldn''t see or hear it, I won''t bother.


    It''s all very silly and stupid.  Any thief worth her fee would pull the blueprints for the security system before they even thought about the actual operation.   I mean, who''d be stupid enough to give the thief what they need to know to buypass your system, right?


    As soon as we got home I headed toward my workshop.  Well, at least I tried to.)


    "Jane, hold on a sec. Come here and sit down, we need to talk."


    (It''s pretty rare when Mama scares me, but the absolutely flat, expressionless tone she used was almost terrifying, much more so than if she was yelling at me, and I had no idea what I''d done wrong.)


    "I''ve been letting this slide.  I figured that we could put it off another week or so, but given what just happened, it''s time, possibly past time.  It''s about your security precautions and how you handle ''retrieving'' your clients'' funds.  You''ve forgotten something terribly important.


    "You said that you''re aware of who some of these people must be working for, but that since you totally drain their accounts and have the cops after them, they have no time to go after you.  Well, you''re right and you''re wrong.  And that''s the problem.


    "You''re still thinking a lot like that four-year-old who snuck away from her parents.  While it''s true that most of the people you ''sting'' aren''t able to come after you, that doesn''t mean none of them are.  Some of these kinds of people have a couple million dollars in cash lying around their homes. Not to mention jewelry or drugs that they can sell quickly.


    "And then there''s the most scary thing you forgot.  Your operations have been all over the world. Some of these people, even if they can''t come after you themselves, work for large organizations that can.  You''ve hurt them where it hurts them the most, in their wallets.  For that, they''ll come after you until they find you and you''re dead."


    As expected Jane went as white as a sheet.  What I didn''t expect was for her to run to the phone and start to dial a rather long number.


    "Jane, STOP!   Put down the phone."


    She hesitated and started to start pushing buttons again, albeit much more slowly.


    By then I''d reached her and taken the phone from her.


    "Give it back Mama, I have to protect them!" she wailed.


    "Protect who honey?"


    "My hackers, I have to warn them.  I just need to make one call, and it''s only two words that I need to tell them."


    "ONE call, and just two words?  Well, l''ll let that go for a moment.  Anyway, that''s exactly what THEY want you to do."


    "What are you talking about Mama?  That doesn''t make any sense at all."


    "It makes a lot of sense, at least if you have some experience.  Didn''t I warn you just a minute ago that you need to think things through?  They''re probably counting on some sort of knee-jerk reaction like this.


    "If the people in your network start acting like something is wrong, the bad people are going to find out, sooner or later, that this little theft of theirs has affected the one they''re after.  Right now they don''t even know how many of us there are.


    "Oh sure, only an idiot wouldn''t know that there''s some sort of organization opposing them, but it could just be another crime syndicate trying to claim their turf for all they know.  That''s why they stole two things at once.   At the very least, they probably know that there are two kinds of operatives working against them.


    "Since no other syndicate is likely to give a rat''s ass about thefts like these, it''s obviously a fishing expedition to see what kind of response they get.


    "If we respond to this theft openly, they''ll know that it''s a different sort of organization attacking them  --  and they have to see it as an attack by now.


    "Now, setting that aside for a bit, what''s this about just ONE call and two words.


    "What exactly did you just try to do?"


    "It''s simple Mama.  All I had to do was say: ''Defcon Worse'', and everything would be taken care of."


    "Defcon Worse?  What the heck kind of warning is that?"


    Jane gave me a sad little smile and said, "Mama, for someone who reads as much as you do, I can''t believe that you don''t read Gini Koch.  You know, ''Touched by an Alien"?  That''s where the phrase comes from.  It means that the situation is way beyond dangerous."


    "Great, my daughter''s using catch-phrases from Sci-Fi novels now.  Where did I go wrong?"  I did a great job of moaning and a lovely pantomime of pulling my hair out by the roots.  (Actually I think it was kinda cool, but, hey, parents need to squash egos now and then -- and she had it coming, this time.)


    "So what would have happened if I''d let you make the call?"


    "Within the next 18 hours every one of my people would be in safe houses somewhere.  They''ve all been trained in capture avoidance, so they''d just disappear in crowds in some mall or transit station or airport.  Someplace they go all the time, so it wouldn''t look suspicious when they went there.  They''d take nothing more than a laptop with them.  Before they left, they''d set up a total 35x overwrite of their hard drives with random nonsense.  No flash drives left around, no nothing."


    "Safe houses.  Capture avoidance.   Right. There''s no way on God''s Earth that you managed to set that up by yourself.


    "Jane Alicia Knight!  Who are you working for?"


    "Ah, well, Mama...you see...ah...."


    "Cut the crap!"  Stern face back on.  "Give!"


    She slumped in the chair, the very picture of abject defeat.  "OK, guess that you really do need to know, don''t you?  The arrangements were made by Interpol.  They''re in 190 countries you see, so they, uh, handled the training."


    "Interpol?" I didn''t have to fake it this time, I just collapsed back on the couch and glared at her.


    Jane shifted rather nervously and tried her favorite little girl grin on me.   Didn''t work this time.


    "All right Jane, more information needed.  Get started."


    She sighed, then gave in, "Yes Mama.  You see, I knew when I was setting up my network that there was no way I could truly do a decent background check on everyone I recruited, and I was at a total loss as to what to do.  And I needed to know who the people were behind the chat handles.  Obviously I couldn''t just blindly trust some random hackers that I''d found on the net."Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    "OK, you got that part right at least;" I muttered.


    "Mama, you remember Mr. Forsythe don''t you?"


    "Oh god, another one of your side trips.  Are you trying to distract me?"  Putting on an even more stern face here.


    "Oh no, not at all, at least not this time.  You do remember him, don''t you?"


    "Older gentleman, one of your first installations.  You''re still friends with his granddaughter Aleena, right?"


    "You never forget anything involving people, do you Mama?   Anyway, I was talking to him when I was setting things up, and he made some suggestions."


    "What? You talked about setting up your network with some random stranger!?  After what I taught you about security?"  Close to a screech that time.  I didn''t know I had it in me.


    "Calm down Mama.  It was and is safe."


    "Oh, and what made a 15-year-old girl so sure that it was safe?  Just because he was a nice old man who didn''t try to flirt with you?"  Sarcasm doesn''t really become me, but I really didn''t care right about now.


    "No Mama, not at all.  It''s because he''s with the FBI.  Or he was anyway.  He was their liaison with the other security agencies  --  not that they talked much to each other back when he was still an active agent, but still...


    "And his wife Shelley?  You remember her too don''t you Mama?  Makes a scrumptious pound cake?  Anyway, she was in the Air Force back when she was young.  She was in their Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Agency.


    "All three of us put our heads together and they helped me get started."


    My turn to turn white and fall back on the couch, again.  I didn''t even realize that I''d gotten back up on my feet.  Damn, payback really IS a bitch.  Not to mention that I heard the couch creaking from all the abuse of the past few minutes.


    "Janie, are you telling me that you''re working with Interpol, the FBI, and Air Force Intelligence?"


    "Yes Mama, that''s all.  Well, uh...and..." (she was barely whispering now) "and Homeland Security.  But that''s all, I swear!"


    I think I just about passed out.  Can''t be sure, but everything went sort of gray for a while.


    "Some of the people we went after were sorta on the Interpol most-wanted list.  While we were snooping around after our client''s money, we''d come across other names and stuff, so we gave all the information to Interpol."


    Jane became rather impassioned at that point.  She took a really deep breath and then plowed ahead.


    "They hardly have any people or money, only about 700 people, and their budget for the whole world is only about 90 million dollars a year, and their work is so important, and they only go after the worst criminals...people enslaving children, pirates, drug lords, those kind of folks, so we sorta gave them most of the extra money we took from those people and it''s really helping them, and we just had to do it to save all those children, and... "  She crumpled onto her side, gasping, with tears pouring off her face.


    (It''s hard to stay conscious when you get that much out on a single breath of air.)


    "Right, of course.  Naturally.  So, your operation isn''t just worldwide, but you''re going after the most dangerous criminals that exist.  How much are you stealing from them every year?  Just give me a ball park figure hun.


    "While you''re thinking about that, I think I''ll just go into lockdown mode here, get the shutters closed, activate the video console, stuff like that.  Just as a precaution you understand.  It''s not like I really think that there could be a problem."


    Well, of course I thought there was a problem.  I was so worried that I almost wet myself.  Iron-willed self-control is a wonderful thing, and I wish I had it.


    I walked into the kitchen, opened the panel that looked like a circuit breaker box, and flipped the bottom switch.  Shutters swung out over all the windows.  They looked like ordinary louvered shutters, but nothing short of an armor piercing round would get through.  A quick check of the video displays didn''t show anything abnormal, but I turned on the motion sensors anyway.


    Back to the living room, sat down facing Jane and said, "Out with it."


    "Well, as best I can figure in my head it''s about $150 million a year.  We manage to get about 50 million distributed to various agencies that Interpol is supporting in the poorer nations, about 40 million to Interpol itself, and the rest goes to the FBI and Homeland Security for projects that they want to keep off-budget. Naturally the money from any given hit is never sent back right away to the country where the people we, ah, steal it from live, so we don''t rouse any suspicions locally."


    I snorted.  Jane''s ''figuring in her head'' is as good as any calculator on Earth.


    "So, all together, counting your, shall we say, ''legitimate thefts'' the total over the past 5 years is something getting up close to three quarters of a billion dollars?"


    "Yes Mama, that''s right."


    "Oy vey..."


    "And you never said a word to me till this week?  After all I''ve taught you about security and analyzing risk to yourself and those around you?"


    She sniveled, and I think it was genuine this time.  "I couldn''t Mama, they told me I couldn''t tell you a thing cause you weren''t part of the team."


    Jane looked up at me with a bright smile and said, "But you are now Mama.  I can tell you anything!"


    I felt something cold crawling up my spine when she said that, but I had to ask, "I''m part of the team now?  And why is that honey?"


    "Mama, please bear with me a bit, I''m not trying to avoid answering, but it''s going to sound like it, so please?"


    "OK honey. I''ll sit quietly.  Well, as much as I can, and I''ll keep quiet as long as I can."


    "Thank you Mama."  I got a real smile from her that time.  I swear that she could stun an angel with her smiles.


    "I''m sure that you remember when we had to leave Fresno because I let it slip that we weren''t really related, and Child Welfare was going to come after us?"


    I confined myself to a nod and clenched my teeth together.  This listening without talking comes sorta hard to me.


    "Well, you asked me where I wanted to go and I said to the Pacific Northwest, right?


    Another tight nod.


    "Actually that wasn''t my idea.  One of the foreseers for the FBI saw that if we went this way it would work out better than if we went somewhere else."


    I still had my teeth clenched together so it''s a wonder that Jane could understand me when I snarled out: "FBI, foreseers..."


    When Jane saw my face, she started talking faster.


    "After I met Mr. Forsythe he eventually figured out who we were and he told me that the FBI had been watching you even before you got those phony Social Security IDs.  He said that nobody has ever managed to even come close to getting into their computer records and create a false one that could really pass muster.


    "What they''ve done is set up a fake network that looks like the real one, complete with what looks like a back door left open by the people who installed the system.  That''s the one that the forgers have access to.


    "It gives the FBI and Homeland Security the names of people to watch for.  It''s been running for years.


    "They''d finished checking you out, and that means that they''d found out about me too.  They were about to arrest you and put me in foster care when you did something that stopped them cold."


    Speaking of cold, I''d broken out in a cold sweat when she mentioned the fake computer network, and I was shaking when she got to the part about arresting and foster care.


    Jane continued like nothing had happened.  Probably because she was looking down at her clenched hands and her now bloodless fingers instead of at me.


    "It seems that they''d sent an agent to a warehouse to retrieve a package that had been stolen.  Somehow they''d gotten their signals crossed and didn''t know that you''d been sent after it too."


    She nodded minutely at me.


    "Yes Mama, your client that day was an undercover agent, but he didn''t know about your other activities."


    "Anyway, as their regular agent was creeping around the rafters of the warehouse, he saw a girl in what he called a ''sneaksuit'' very quietly backing up into a security guard about the size of a wall."


    "Does that sound familiar Mama?"


    I nodded.


    "Well, anyway, the guard grabbed said girl and turned her around.  Said girl looked up and the guard for a moment and then something very unusual occurred.


    Said girl shrugged off the guard''s hand, backed up a bit, and then ran like crazy.  After a few seconds the guard sorta shook himself and then walked away like nothing had happened.


    "Right after that their orders changed from ''arrest'' to ''watch with great interest''.  They''ve been watching you, and now us, since a year before we moved to Fresno.  In fact, I didn''t screw up about us not being related, it was an FBI agent who told them...anonymously of course."


    Right about then, my mouth was hanging open.  For about the first time in my life I didn''t know what to say.


    Jane giggled.  "Now I know what they mean when they say that someone looks like a poleaxed steer.


    "So, moving right along Mama, you asked why I could tell you anything now.


    "Do you remember when I kept looking in my purse on the way up to the camp site?"


    "Geez, how could I forget?  I thought I was gonna go nuts from all that clicking!"


    "I''m sorry Mama, but, well, it wasn''t just the business cards I was looking at, it was these too."  She handed me a small leather case, just the right side for an ID badge.


    I opened it and found myself staring back at me.  It seems that I was now also working for the government and....


    "JANE ALISIA KNIGHT, you said you''d told me about everything!  What the hell is with this CIA ID!?"


    A tiny voice came out of the little, shrunken thing on the couch that was my daughter trying vainly to hide in plain sight.  "Oops.  I forgot that one?"


    "But why the CIA?  You said that your contacts were with the FBI and Homeland Security."


    "Well, it does make sense doesn''t it?  Everyone knows about the FBI and Homeland Security.  They''re around all the time, and nobody is surprised when they see one of their employees.  I can certainly make myself fit the public perception of an open, well-meaning, fairly efficient, but occasionally bumbling federal employee."


    "The CIA, on the other hand, is the super-secret, oh so sneaky, underhanded, get things done no matter what kind of agency.  If it involves being sneaky in the world of human beings as opposed to the info world, the CIA handles it."


    "So that''s why you''re officially a Special Agent with the Internal Affairs Division.  I got you badge number 888 too!  That''s considered very, very lucky in Asia you know.  Well anyway, if someone discovers that you''re working with Internal Affairs, they''ll think that you don''t have anything to do with ongoing operations in the outside world, which of course will be exactly what you want them to believe."


    "Uh huh, right, of course, so you''re saying that my mindset fits more with the CIA. I''m just the short, dark, sneaky, flat-chested, mole of a person who lurks in the darkness and..." Getting really down and almost weepy here.


    About then Jane came and sat beside me and gave me a big hug, inviting me  back into her world.

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 7

    "Oh Mama, I hate to see you like this.  We are who we are.  Would you really, I mean really and truly, want to work with Homeland Security?"


    "Ugh, no thank you. The idea makes my skin crawl."


    "Well there you go. And there''s one other little thing."


    I''ll tell you this just once.  When Jane fidgets, arrange to be somewhere at least 6 feet away from her.  If she''s huging you at the time, it''s like getting a roller massage in the face.


    "There''s just one other thing I need to tell you Mama.  Just one.  Not a biggie.  Just a detail I guess, but you''d probably want to know, and...."


    "Come on Janie, just spit it out, I''m pretty much over being shocked now."


    "Ah, my connection as an ''occasional'' consultant for the FBI and Homeland Security isn''t known by anyone that I know of so far, but if someone ever digs into my background, they''ll find that, and only that.  That''s why I told you what I did a few minutes ago, to practice my cover story...sorta...maybe."


    "The agency I work for 90% of the time now, when I''m not doing my private security stuff is this one."


    Jane handed me another ID case.  Oddly I felt a bit of a tingle in my fingers when I touched it.  Probably just nerves.  I opened it, and there she was looking back at me.  Fairly standard ID; photo, government ID number and such.  The rest said: "National Security Agency, Installation and Logistics -- Intern."


    "The NSA.  The freaking NSA.  So you''re an Intern for the NSA?  And this after you''d just told me that Homeland Security was the last surprise?"


    "Wheels within wheels, Mama.  Wheels within wheels.


    "Installation and Logistics is the most boring work at the NSA.  You travel wherever they send you and set up antenna arrays and computers.  Nothing requiring much of a security clearance.  You only have to show that you won''t tell anyone where you''ve been.  You never handle sensitive data.  It''s my cover within a cover.


    "You already know what I really do for them."


    I don''t know what I did wrong, maybe I had an inquisitive look on my face, but all of a sudden I knew I''d made a mistake.  I''d turned on Jane''s ''instructor'' switch.


    "You know Mama, the NSA gathers information, electronically, from all over the world.  Part of its mission is to keep our own government''s intelligence and communications secure.  It''s part of the Department of Defense and the director has to be at least a lieutenant general or a vice admiral."


    She took a quick deep breath, so I didn''t have time to interrupt her.


    "It''s located at Fort Meade, Maryland and uses over 90 megawatts of electricity.  Did you know that that''s more than the entire city of Annapolis, the capitol of Maryland uses?  They used to cause brown-outs until Constellation Energy ran in new power lines. In fact the NSA is the power company''s biggest customer in the entire state."


    Jane gushed, just like any other hyperactive teenager who was passionate about a hobby, "I really want to get inside and look around.  Their computer systems must be beyond awesome!"


    Good, her face relaxed into the glazed look I''d come to associate with rapture -- usually seen when she''s hooked a really big trout that has been giving her trouble by totally ignoring her offerings of various delectable looking flies for several days or when she was getting ready to install a really devious security system.


    Time for me to finally say something.


    "Questions:


    "1) Do the CIA and NSA know anything about these?


    "2) If so, if someone decides to look us up on their internal databases, will they find us?


    "3) If they find us there, what will it say about us?"


    "Geez Mama, you seem to think I''m stupid or something." Another of Janie''s perfected pouts here.


    "Of course they know (well a few of the permanent management people do), and yes, of course we''re in the databases."


    "It says that I''m an intern with a start date that changes every day so it''s always 2 months before the date they look.  Then they''ll see that I''m working with a roving team out of the country.  Which team will depend on which is the furthest away and hardest to contact at that moment.


    "You''re listed as always incognito, working in various departments under an assumed name and where and as whom is classified as ''need to know''.  Perfect for Internal Affairs investigators and also a good explanation as to why nobody knows you."


    "That''s why the name on your ID is Glynis Rivers and not your own.  By the way, why did you choose that name back when we were living in Fresno?"


    "Well, I''ve always liked that Welsh actress, Glynis Johns.  She had the most wonderful voice, and she was extremely talented.  A good singer too."


    "And ''Rivers'', well, that was a joke since there weren''t any permanent ones that near to Fresno.  It''s almost a desert climate after all."


    "Oh I see Mama, that explains it.  Anyway, that''s about it.


    "As you can see, Mama, my getting together with the Forsythe''s wasn''t entirely accidental.  They''d just been waiting to make contact with us until I''d grown up a bit.


    "Mr. Forsythe''s interest in fly fishing, and my meeting him on the river, were pure, blissful serendipity for the FBI.  If it hadn''t happened there, they''d have made an effort to contact me within a couple of months anyway."


    Jane spaced out again, so I got up and tiptoed down the hall to my room.  Even thinking about fishing got her all dreamy-eyed.  Not that I minded right now.  I needed some alone time.


    ------------------------


    Dang, my fingers were tingling again.  I hoped that I hadn''t bruised a nerve in my hand one of the times I tossed myself onto the couch.


    I put down my ID badge to check out my hand, and the tingling stopped.  I picked up the badge and the tingling started again.


    Got freaked out, again  --  GOD I''m tired of these things happening!


    Opened the wallet up, laid it flat on my desk, (tingling stopped again) and took a really close look at the contents.  The ID was perfectly normal.   The badge however looked a bit odd, so I checked for images online.  The starburst in the center is usually gold.  Mine had a faint, bluish cast to it.  I held my hand over it and felt the tingling again.  Then I laid my hand flat on the badge and the world went away.


    Instead of my desk, what I saw was a room shrouded in shadows that seemed to be moving.  There were wisps, tendrils, skinny clouds  --  I don''t know how to describe it  --  sort of waving in the air, like kelp fronds under water.


    There was a row of pale, whitish blue cylinders with two sides solid -- like 1/4 circle arcs, and the other two sides appearing to be open but consisting of some sort of transparent material.  I couldn''t see the ceiling but every 20 seconds or so a massive cylindrical hammer fell at an incredible speed and landed on a die at the bottom of the cylinder then rose back up into the immensity of the building/cavern/space.  Then it repeated the cycle.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I can''t say what impressed/surprised/scared me more.  That the hammer didn''t shatter when it hit, or that the material it was forging barely changed shape with each blow, or the fact that some of the vapors in the room seemed to be sucked into the material being forged each time the hammer struck.  I just thank God that the room was in total vacuum or I''m sure that the noise would have shattered my eardrums instantly.


    (Don''t ask me how I knew that or why the "clouds" acted that way when they were in a vacuum.  I have no idea, and absolutely no desire to go back and find out.)


    I finally decided that what REALLY scared me the most was that I recognized what was being forged in the one closest to me.  It was the same as the insignia in the center of my badge.


    Then I was back in my room, and found that I had spots before my eyes from holding my breath.  (Yes, you really can see spots that way. I don''t recommend the experience though, it''s extremely uncomfortable.)


    I went back down the hall to Jane''s room.  Knocked, entered.


    "Janie honey, about this badge...."


    "It''s OK Mama, just put it in your shirt pocket. It should fit nicely since there won''t be much under it.  That way, when you need to activate the shield, you can just tap it like they do to activate a communicator in Star Trek."


    "LOOK JANE I''m NOT......"


    "I''ll have to find somewhere else to put mine, it won''t fit in a shirt pocket on me."


    Then she got a sort of vague expression and shook herself and said: "Oh, hi Mama. Come on in.  Did you want something?"


    DAMN!  If I came up with some comeback about my chest, I''d have to explain to her that she''d been saying things she didn''t remember...again.


    Again?  When had she done that before?  I couldn''t rightly remember myself.


    Oh well, it couldn''t be important.  What was important was that whatever it was in the center of my badge was some sort of shield.


    Suddenly I knew that I was wearing my usual (at least to hear Jane say it) devilish expression.  I was certain that I could figure out some really useful things to do with a shield if I put my mind to it and experimented a bit.


    I did rather carefully decide not to pursue any thoughts about how it got in my badge or about the room where it was forged that I''d seen in my...guess you could call it a vision.


    Nope, definitely don''t want to go there right now.


    Speaking of going somewhere, it''s time we started getting serious about our response to the thefts that brought us here.


    "It''s time for us to strategize what we''re going to do about our current situation.  Let''s get back in the living room and brainstorm."


    What I really meant is "let me tell you what to do," but I knew that that would go down like pills go down the throat of a cat when it''s sick, so it was time to be at least a little diplomatic.


    <<Quit sniggering at me. I CAN TOO be diplomatic.  Just not very often and not for very long.>>


    Once we got settled down with tea, and purring cats on our laps, I started talking.


    "First of all, we do nothing about these problems personally.  Let me explain why before you explode on me."


    Jane grumbled at me, "I DON''T explode, I''m just very outspoken sometimes, that''s all!"


    "Yeah...right.   Anyway, since this is likely a fishing expedition, we don''t bite.  It doesn''t mean that we don''t do anything about it.  What we need to do is this.


    "You process all your data, and by the way, explain to me how you know that there is some when we finish here, OK?  Then we send all your data to the FBI.  They''ll be involved in this.  They''re into heavy duty industrial espionage cases.  If you have as much as you think you do, they''ll probably be able to catch the perps."


    "You think there wasn''t only one Mama?"


    "Nope, not possible.  Look at us. You specialize in data, I specialize in the physical.  Do you think that any single human being can truly be an expert in both?"


    "Hmmm, I see your point.  So you think that there were two break-ins?"


    "Yep, and probably at least a couple hours apart.  In fact, it could be two different groups that coincidentally hit them on the same day  --  though I find that unlikely.  It''s more likely that two separate branches of the same outfit were behind this and didn''t coordinate  --  sorta like when I was spotted by that FBI agent in the warehouse incident."


    (That REALLY hurt.  Not only had I not noticed the security guard, but I ALSO hadn''t noticed the guy overhead.  Time to review my own procedures for when I go after something in the future.)


    "Of course, you''ll be able to tell once you access your data.  How long will it be before it gets to you?"


    "Should be sometime late tonight given that the crimes happened in Boise."


    "OK then, we have time to have dinner and get some rest, then we can get back to work."


    "Sounds good to me Mama, let''s do that.  I''ll just get my systems set up now so I can decrypt the data as soon as possible after it gets here.  Then I guess it''ll be time to unpack."


    "Oh gods, I''d forgotten about that.  The car probably stinks by now from all the stuff we left in it.  Let me tell you again how much I appreciate your sticking with your ''catch and release'' program!  If there were dead fish in there too....


    "Anyway, let''s get it over with."


    Later as I was getting ready for bed, I was playing with my new ID  --  genuine this time, YAY  --  just flipping it open and closed over and over, when I noticed something.  There was something behind the CIA ID card.


    I slid it out and saw myself on an Oregon driver''s license, with the name Glynis Rivers.  Pulled out my real one, OK, my ''other'' real one, and did a comparison.  They''d made a mistake, two of them actually.


    I was NOT 4'' 11" I was 5 feet damn it!  And as for the other...


    I stalked back down to Jane''s room. Fortunately the door was open so I just continued stalking and went in.  She was sitting at her dresser, combing out her hair.


    "Janie, this driver''s license is going to get me in a world of trouble.  What were they thinking?"


    "What''s wrong with it Mama? Let me see."


    Jane took it and looked it over then laughed, a little too long for my taste.


    "Oh, my, they listed your height at 4'' 11".  I know that you like to pretend that you''re 5 feet, but you shouldn''t be that upset about it, besides, it''s only one inch."


    "You don''t see anything else wrong about it?"


    "No Mama, I don''t, should I?"


    "Ah, let me see your new license.  I assume you have one too?"


    "Of course, here you go."  She dug it out and handed it over to me.


    I saw the same problem as on mine, a potentially dangerous problem.


    "And you don''t see anything odd at all? Like maybe the wrong eye colors?"


    "Huh, let me see again.  Nope, brown eyes for you and blue for me.  That''s right.  What''s the problem?"


    We both turned and looked at her dressing table mirror.


    <<Argh...even sitting down she was almost as tall as I am.  Where''s the justice in the world?  Don''t answer that.  I might not like the answer.>>


    What I saw was the same thing I always saw in the mirror or when I looked at her.  My eyes were a bright, grass green, and hers were equally bright but a lovely lavender color.


    ------------------------


    .    Have you ever seen an avalanche?  Think about it.  The snow just builds up to a certain point, then the avalanche happens.  Or so it seems.  The reality is that there''s a lot going on down inside the snow that isn''t visible.  That''s what causes the avalanche.


    Events can be like that too.  Nothing seems to be happening and suddenly  the whole world is crashing down around you, and your life is changed forever in a few moments of utter chaos.


    I walked back down the hall, slowly enough that I didn''t even trip once.  There was a lot to think about.  Well, there already had been a lot, it was just a lot more than a lot now, if you follow me.


    I opened the door and glanced at the tapestry of a dragon that I had hanging just inside.  My favorite of all the things I''d collected.  I''d had the dragon longer than anything else because, in the early years, I only kept things that were very light weight, small, and easily portable in case I had to move suddenly.


    The next thing I did was turn around and go back to Jane''s room.


    "Quiz time honey."


    "Ah geez Mama, right now?"


    "Yes right now, you never know...."


    "When you''ll need to remember something right now and not later.  I remember Mama."


    And she mumbled not quite under her breath, "As if you''d ever let me forget."


    I let it pass this time.  I pretended that this was just another of the hundreds of pop quizzes that I''d given Jane over the years to keep her memory sharp.


    "What are the colors of the dragon in the tapestry in my room?"


    "White body, red for the mane and toes, indigo whiskers, blue eyes."


    "Any variation in the colors at all?"


    "Nope."


    "Head position?"


    "Full profile."


    "OK. Last question, how many claws on each foot?"


    "Three, and yes, all of the feet have three claws and they''re all black, OK?  Are we done now?"


    (Jane was getting really, really good at whining.)


    "Yes grumpy, we''re done.  See you in the morning."


    Back down to my room. Closed the door.  Took a deep breath.


    Looked at the tapestry again.  Everything was as Jane had described except one thing.  The left forefoot had FOUR claws now, and the fourth was a bright, golden color.  Oddest of all was that there was a sense of some sort of light hovering above it.  I can''t describe it any better than that, but something was there that I couldn''t, quite, see.


    <<No, I don''t have a clue what it means.  Do you?  If so, fill me in would you?  I could use a gimme about now.


    Nothing?  Geez, what use are you if you don''t give me at least a hint now and then?


    You quit laughing, right now!  Having Jane laugh at me is almost more than I can take most of the time.  Having you do it too is TOO MUCH!  So SHUT UP!>>


    ------------------

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 8

    The next morning, as always, the sweet, sweet smell of coffee drew me out of bed and to the breakfast nook.


    "Morning honey.  How soon till we can get started?"


    "The decryption should have finished during the night.  I''ll set up a program to do the preliminary analysis as soon as the courier gets it here.  It''ll finish running long before we get back.  Then we can get to work on it.


    "I''m not counting on much, if any, of the video being intact, given that the thief got in at all, but there''s some that they probably didn''t find."


    "Ah, right, your sensors that weren''t part of the official design Jane?"


    "Right Mama.  Those operate on very low power at several frequencies that you''d normally not find with a frequency scanner.   The actual data storage is over 60 feet away in a locked closet in the back of a storage room for obsolete equipment.  The dummy one is in with the servers for their computer system."


    "Let me see if I got this straight Janie.  You have two separate video systems?


    (Oh God!  I''d done it again, because I was groggy.  Instructor mode incoming.)


    "Yep.  Just the primary one runs ordinarily, but when there is interference of some sort, as in part of the ''official'' network going offline, the secondary video system is activated.  It has miniature video cameras in the key offices and storage areas, and sends the video to a hard drive in a nearby office.  It''s the primary system that I''ll bet that the thief found, if he or she was any good at their job.


    "The secondary cameras are very small and hidden rather well, as is the hardware that stores their video.  Even if our thief is paranoid enough to suspect a second system, they would never have time to search every room on 12 floors to find it.


    "So... what I expect is that we''ll have the normal 1 hour video loop from the main storage being blacked out at some point.  Then the secondary cameras will have run until the alarm was tripped.  Our thief should be long gone by then so there''s no use to keep sending blank video.  Once that happens, we turn off that system remotely and transmit a signal to copy all data that is still intact to a portable drive that is then retrieved by one of our employees."


    "Geez Janie, that sounds way beyond James Bondish.  That''s a lot of hardware, not to mention what is probably about a couple days to install."


    "We don''t do that kind of installation except for the very nervous, and well heeled I might add.   Even so, our actual costs are almost always under $3500, and we charge them between $15,000 and $30,000 depending on how big the company is.  Most of them consider it...ah....I think that the term is ''chump change''.


    "You know Mama,  ''chump change'' is an interesting phrase. It appears to be of African-American origin and first appeared in written form as early as, possibly earlier than, 1967.  It''s derived from..."


    About then I could feel my eyes glazing over.  No, I''m NOT going to ever mention it to Jane.  If I did, she''d probably try to tell me about the origin of that phrase too.


    "ENOUGH! STOP!  Geez Janie, my brain is on overload already.  I don''t need to know that much.  When I do need more than the general details, I''ll ask, OK honey?"


    Jane sighed.  "Yes Mama, I know.  That''s what you say every time, but I can''t help it.  It''s all so interesting!"


    As usual she was bouncing up and down with excitement,and seriously ticking off Tigger who was herself, as usual, warming up in Jane''s lap.


    I suppose that her boundless curiosity and general excitement at sharing things with others is a good part of what made her so many friends.  Like most teens, she behaved a lot better around them than around me.  Peer pressure is a pretty awesome and potentially horrible thing.  Fortunately she''d always had a sixth sense about those who tried to use peer pressure to manipulate others, and had stayed away from them as well as, somehow, making sure that her friends didn''t get caught in that trap either.


    Now that I think about it, it''s probably one of the things that made all her friends love her so much.  Knowing that someone is looking out for you, and also knowing that it isn''t because they want something from you, is a pretty powerful attractant.


    While we waited for the data processing to finish, we each called our people and explained that, no, we would not be personally getting involved in these cases.  We were out of town dealing with another problem and had no idea when we''d be back.


    I heard Jane telling her client that of course, the security system would be restored completely, at no cost to the client, as per policy.  In fact, the crew she''d dispatched should be there  within a few hours at most.


    <<What?  You think we were lying about where we were?  No freaking way!  In our line of work you never, EVER lie to a client.  We were out of town.  The client was in Boise, and we were in Salem.  If that isn''t out of town I don''t know what is!>>


    As soon as she hung up the phone, "Oh feldercarb!"


    "What is it Janie?"


    "Why don''t people ever understand what a security system is for?  It''s not supposed to catch thieves, it''s supposed to deter them.  If your average thief, heck even your professional, knows that there''s a high level security system on a building, they''ll usually just find some equally lucrative target that doesn''t have one.


    "ARGH!"


    After she''d cooled down a bit, Jane also let her FBI contact know what we suspected about the thefts.  I could see her relaxing during the call.  In fact she relaxed a lot.  Probably because he''d told her the same thing that I had.  You know words like "trap" and "fishing expedition" and such.


    Here''s a hint for you.  If your kids have hobbies, use terminology from that hobby to explain things to them.


    What? You don''t know any? Well you''d darn well better learn.  If I''d gone to Jane and told her that the thief''s employer had instituted a plan to track us down by using multi-level deception, even her eyes would have glazed over, right after she rolled them at me.


    But as soon as I said: "Fishing expedition," she understood immediately.   Obviously she didn''t quite believe me until the phone call to the FBI, but, even then, it never would have worked if I hadn''t sown the proper seed in her mind.


    Yes, raising children is work.  Accomplishing anything worthwhile is work, and raising a child well is more worthwhile than anything else on Earth.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    -----------------


    The data arrived, Jane went into her workshop, did something esoteric with her computer, then left the workshop and closed the door.


    "What are you doing Jane?  We need to see what''s on the video."


    I knew that I''d screwed up royally when she not only rolled her eyes, but flipped her hair AND snorted at me.


    "Well, what?"


    "Mama, humor me for a second.  What''s the date today?"


    I huffed back at her, it was one of those days.  "It''s the 15th of course, so what?"


    Jane turned and banged her head on the wall of the hall.  Softly of course, she obviously didn''t want to leave a dent.  "Oh gods above.  What did I ever do to deserve a mother this dense?"


    She was wailing quite dramatically and, for a change, almost entirely sincerely -- at least as best I could determine.


    "Look Jane, forget the drama and just tell me.  I''m feeling kinda grouchy and sore today, OK?  I was de-stressing on the training room last night and I sorta overdid it."


    <<No I did not mean to say "in" the training room.  I meant exactly what I said.>>


    "Oh, OK Mama.  Why didn''t you say so earlier?"  She smiled at me sympathetically, for real this time.


    "Well, I suppose that it''s my fault too.  So what''s the problem Honey?"


    "I''m sorry Mama, I''m just so wound up with this coming on top of everything else that just happened.  And I did only tell you once, and it was over a week ago.  My graduation at OSU starts in 2 1/2 hours, and I have to be there, in the building, 45 minutes ahead of time.  The traffic will be pretty nasty, so it will probably take a full hour to get there and find a place to park.  So we have to leave in about 45 minutes."


    I whacked myself on the forehead.  The next I knew, I found myself leaning on the wall with stars in front of my eyes.  Sometimes I forget that you shouldn''t do that to yourself if you''re unusually strong.  At least I didn''t, quite, knock myself out.


    "Ow!  Dang it.  Ok Jane.  I''ll get the cats set up and you do whatever you need to do with your hardware.  That''ll give us about 35 minutes to get beautiful.  Let''s boogie!"


    I''ll tell you this once and only once.  High School graduations can be sorta fun, or at least that''s what I hear.  I missed most of Jane''s remember?  They aren''t incredibly long, so the boredom factor isn''t all that bad.  But, don''t ever let yourself get roped into going to a graduation ceremony for a major university.


    Was it bad?  Is the sky up?  No I''m not going to describe it.  I''ll probably have nightmares about it as it is.


    We dragged ourselves back into the house late that afternoon.  We pulled off our dresses and hung them up.  We had ANOTHER graduation the next day at PSU.  Oh joy!


    Everthing else got tossed into the washing machine.  Then we both headed for the showers and some comfortable grubbies to wear when we got back to work.


    I was drying my hair when Jane called me into her workroom and we got started.


    "OK here are several possibles for our thief in the primary video, 2 males and 1 female.  Let me scan...ah OK, good.  Primary system is offline, secondary is on.  Time stamp: 8:07 PM, so the building was still open."


    "All right, sneakysuit in the office, hmmm frequency scanner in his/her hand from the look of it....and, yep, there go the secondary systems.  Good!"


    "Good?  Jane honey, all I can see is a black screen."


    "Patience Mama, patience..


    "There we go!"


    I saw what looked like a small safe door opening from the inside.  it was extremely jerky, but Jane had said only 2 frames per second.


    "Hah, surprised them.  They didn''t expect a camera inside the safe."


    "And there goes that camera."  Jane laughed for several seconds.


    "OK Jane, what''s the giggling for, you lost your picture...again."


    "Geez Mama, didn''t I ask you to be patient?"


    Jane fiddled with the controls on her computer a bit and suddenly the image was way zoomed in and I was looking at a big eyeball.  "Got it!  A perfect retinal scan!


    "They couldn''t take the camera out, it was superglued to the back of the safe -- so they had to get the memory card out.  I positioned it so it was possible to get at it, but really, really hard to do.  They probably figured that I''d planned on retrieving the memory card."


    "But you didn''t, right?"


    "Right Mama, the camera was glued to the back of the safe so our thief couldn''t find the transmitter connected to it from behind."


    "The other good part is that we should have a clear set of fingerprints."


    "Huh? What are you talking about?  She was wearing gloves!"


    "Of course she was Mama, surgical gloves.  Keeps random fingerprints off of things and they''re thin enough not to interfere with manipulating her equipment and such."


    "BUT!"  Jane paused, seeing if I''d take the bait, but for once I kept my mouth shut and just glared at her.


    "Oh darn..." she muttered.  "All right Mama, no more suspense."


    "Gloves will ordinarily keep you from leaving fingerprints behind, but not always.  This particular safe was four feet off the ground and over two feet deep.  To get at the memory card slot on the camera most people would have to turn sideways and stretch.  You have to brace your body to do that.  And the most natural way to do that is to put your other hand right on the front edge of the inside of the safe and press down to hold your body still.


    "That alone might not leave any decent impressions, but it will if you''ve lined the bottom of the safe with a material that is ever-so-slightly compressible if you put more than 10 pounds of pressure on it.


    "It looks just like wood, and matches the rest of the lining I had put in the safe. Makes it look like a vanity thing for the rich client and all that.


    "However, the FBI should be lifting at least 2 or 3 good prints off of it.  Combine that with the retinal scan and there''s a good chance of IDing the perp."


    "If she''s not on file, it will take longer of course, but eventually she''ll be spotted."


    Jane and I seemed to have the same idea right then.  This time she looked at me and said; "Your turn this time Mama."


    "Thanks ever so much sweetie."  When she didn''t respond, I suddenly realized that that level of sarcasm never bothers her any more.   I''ve probably overused it over the years.


    So I just cut to the chase: "We''re both referring to the thief as ''she''.  There''s nothing really obvious on the video, but if we both think so, it must be.  You''d better call the FBI again and let them know about that before you send over the retinal scan.


    "You do have some secure way of sending the image, don''t you?"


    The glare I got that time would have stripped rust off a ship hull at 100 meters.


    "Ah, yeah, right...anyway, I''ll just be heading down to my room for a bit while you get those details wrapped up Jane."


    I fled to my personal sanctum with as much dignity as I could muster seeing as I''d just made a total fool of myself.


    After a couple hours I figured that it was safe to go back to the lion''s den, so that''s what I did, and found her watching the video again.


    "Trying to spot some more details about our thief?"  That sounded innocuous enough and not insulting.  Good way to restart the conversation, right?


    "No Mama, I''m watching the second thief, the one that stole the security codes.  You didn''t forget that there were two thefts, did you?"


    "What me, forget something important like that, heck no!  How could you even think that?"  Regretted that last phrase as soon as I said it.  It was a dead giveaway that I had.


    What? Give me a break.  I can focus just fine when I''m doing my usual kind of work, but this cerebral computer stuff gives me a headache.  My brain must be more wired for activity than sitting still...well, unless there were books involved, but just then there weren''t.


    "So honey, what did you find?"


    "Different person for sure, male this time, and the theft was at 11:16, after the building was closed up for the night.  No break in, so he must have hidden in the building before closing time and then waited for the police to leave after the first robbery.  You have to go into an entirely different part of the building to access this particular computer system too.


    "Unfortunately, this thief was more tech savvy.  No visuals of much use, other than body build, and no record of exiting the building on the computer logs.


    "Not bad work, not bad at all, but we should still have fingerprints."


    I decided that not talking right now was a good thing, so I just looked my question at her.


    "He had to move an equipment rack we put in front of it to get access to the right computer.  There was a pressure sensitive material lining the inside of the uprights of the rack."


    Jane giggled again.  "Nerds rarely think of physical traps, they''re too keyed in to those in software.


    "Actually, if I hadn''t met you Mama, I wouldn''t have thought of it either."


    An admission that a parent had a good idea is to be treasured forever, so, in order to not destroy the moment, I just said: ''Thanks sweetie;" and left it at that.


    Jane typed furiously for a few seconds and then hit "enter" with a flourish.


    "There, everything sent off to the FBI as well as to my private archive. We''re done for now.


    "And, speaking of which Mama, what do we do next?"

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 9

    What we did then was wait.  With all that had happened, It was hard to believe that it had only been eight days since Jane''s high school graduation.  I wanted to see if there were any more feints at Jane''s organization, or signs that they were hunting for me too, not that I had any idea of how to go about it.  The first time might have been a coincidence.


    I told Jane that after all she''d crammed in over the past 4 years, she deserved a rest, a long one.  She agreed but only if I would do likewise.  What else could I do but go along with her?


    It''s not that we did nothing after that.  Yes we had the PSU graduation, but I''m not going to say anything about that except that it wasn''t quite as bad as the one at OSU.  No, I''m not going to say any more about it, and that''s all I''m going to say.


    We both got stir crazy within 2 days, so she gravitated back into her workshop where she did her best to make her miniaturized equipment even more miniature, and I did some heavy thinking and practiced my Hapkido.


    I hadn''t forgotten what I''d said to Jane at the lake.  It did seem as if it might be time for my 7th dan.


    Before I go any further I should explain a little about that.  Some schools of Hapkido require you to spend a number of years at each rank before moving to the next.  Usually as many years as your rank.  So if you were 3rd dan, you had to be at that level for 3 years before you could try for 4th dan, then 4 years at 4th before 5th, and so on.


    Since most reputable schools won''t let you get your black belt till at least age 15, few people, even if they have the skill, reach 7th dan before age 40, and I was only 30.


    Some feel that 30 is too much too young for the rank to which I was now aspiring,  but Master Oh didn''t believe that age had anything to do with it.  "Maturity is what counts," he says,  "Maturity and skill and self-knowledge."


    Right then, I felt that I was ready.  That''s the self-knowledge part.  Whether or not I was deluding myself I was about to find out.


    The next morning I made a call and was told to show up at Master Oh''s that coming Friday, June 21st and to plan to be there until Sunday.  Then I went to the door of Jane''s workshop.  I banged on the chime she had just inside.  When she''s concentrating, she doesn''t hear anything else.


    Once I had her attention I said; "Honey, I''m going up to Seattle the day after tomorrow.  I have a couple of days scheduled with Master Oh.  I''m going to let him beat on me, like we discussed when we were camping."


    "Oh, OK Mama, have fun..." And with that heartfelt response, she turned back to whatever she was soldering on her workbench and forgot about me.


    I knew that she wouldn''t work too overly long when I was gone though.  How did I know?  Simple.  She was going to have to feed the cats.  We had a rule that you don''t use the auto-feeder when you''re home.  Cats are people too and need attention now and then, and feeding time is a good time to let them show how much they love you...or at least how much they wish you''d hurry up and open the damned can!


    Much as I love the cats, they can be rather exasperating at times.  Sort of like kids now that I think of it.


    Good thing that Jane isn''t reading this over my shoulder any more.


    Maybe not, but I am reading it Mama.  You''ll get yours later.


    ---------------


    Two days later I threw my bag into the trunk of the car and headed north.  It''s a bit over four hours from our place to Seattle. There''s some fairly spectacular scenery between Portland and Olympia, and I had the whole day ahead of me, so I intended to enjoy the trip.


    Master Oh''s studio is just south of Seattle, in Federal Way.  It''s not all that attractive a place, mostly it''s just the south end of the Seattle sprawl, but it does host the headquarters of the Weyerhauser company, and the Rhododendron Species Foundation garden is there.  Too bad there aren''t many plants in bloom by the end of June.  Oh well.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    I checked into a motel, neither high end nor low.  As always, inconspicuous is the rule when I''m on the road.  Sorted out my equipment and checked it over, again.


    <<OK, so I was a bit nervous.  All right!  I was a lot nervous.  Are you satisfied now that you got me to admit it?>>


    Since there was nothing urgent to do, I went over to the rhododendron garden and enjoyed the scenery.  Even with only a few plants in bloom, it''s still a lovely place.  Strange that I''d never taken Jane there with me.  She''d probably enjoy it too.


    Back to the motel and caught up on some of my reading.


    <<Of course I had books with me.  Do squirrels like nuts?>>


    Up at 6:45 AM the next day --  late for me  --  no coffee scent to drag me out of bed.  Dang, I missed having Jane around, but that''s nothing new.


    Went downstairs to load up with breakfast.  Ate more than usual, ie. enough to make the waitstaff at the buffet wonder how I''d managed to get a black hole into my stomach.  If what I was expecting happened, I''d need every calories I could shove in.


    <


    Yes, yes, I know. I essentially quoted from the brochure.  Why try to improve on something already that well written, right?


    With Hapkido you can gain a new dan by formal testing or by recognition of one''s skills.  The grandmaster of the particular school chooses.


    Master Oh does a bit of both, using testing for the first few children''s belts and then what seems like winging it for the belts after that.  I''m sure that there''s some deep philosophical reasoning behind it though.  It''s probably something mere mortals like me wouldn''t understand.  It couldn''t be because he''s too lazy to write up a protocol.>>


    ---------------------


    Right after breakfast, my phone chirped at me.  Master Oh had sent me a text.  It said that there wasn''t enough room at the studio, so I was to come to thus-and-such a place at exactly 10:03  a.m.  Map was appended.


    Uh-oh.  That didn''t sound good.  Either he was planning to run me all over the place and just wanted extra space, or there was going to be an audience.


    I scrolled down and found that I was instructed to wear my favorite outfit.


    Got a bit teary-eyed at that.  That meant that I had permission to wear my white belt.  Why white you ask, when I could wear black with the 6 stripes for my rank?


    Good question, this time, since I haven''t told you yet.


    It started when I was 8 years old.  I''d been hanging around a strip mall close to my house, putting off going home as long as possible.  As I was walking past one storefront, I heard shouting.  Ducked into the nearest cover -- a quite normal reaction for me at the time.


    Didn''t hear the noises coming closer, so I peeked out.  Saw a sign that said Ahn''s Hapkido.  Looked inside the window and was fascinated.  People were being kicked at and swung at and sometimes they were dodging.  I''d never thought of that when my father was raging.


    Before I knew it, it was full dark and I knew I''d be in trouble when I got home (not that I wasn''t usually anyway).


    After that, I hung around outside every day that I could, and eventually started practicing what I''d seen.  Fortunately there was a sort of built-up decorative plant display outside that blocked anyone from seeing me unless they were walking between me and the school.


    One day I was practicing a spin kick, when a hand stopped my leg in mid-spin.  I flipped around and took up a defensive stance and found myself face-to-face with the teacher from the school.  I''d never heard the door open or him approaching me either.


    <<All right, my face to his waist, but give me a bit of slack, OK?  Who''s telling this, you our me?>>


    "Well, little one, you''re doing well so far.  I''ve been watching you these past few weeks.  Why don''t you come inside for your studies from now on?"


    "I don''t have any money, sir."  At the time I had no idea what to call him.  Later I learned that he was an 8th dan Master.


    He studied me carefully for several seconds.  I don''t doubt for a minute that he saw every one of the bruises on my face and arms.  Master Ahn never missed anything.


    If you told me, even today, that he''d somehow seen the bruises on the rest of my body, I''d believe you.


    "I don''t think that that will be a problem little one.  What''s your name?"


    "Karla, sir."


    "And how old are you?"


    "I''m eight, sir."  That was the only time I ever saw him startled by anything.  I looked about 6 and was scrawny to boot.


    "Well then Karla. Come inside and let''s get you organized."


    Right then, with all the students watching, he took me into the back and gave me a gi my size and my white belt.  He acted like he had all the time in the world, even with all those students waiting  --  and they were waiting silently I might add.  Master Ahn had that effect on people.  No matter where or when I saw him after that, there was a circle of calm that seemed to travel with him.


    There were a few, veiled snickers from the older children present when I joined the class.  Within a month they weren''t laughing at me any more.


    So, anyway, I still have that white belt.  It had seemed much too big for me at the time, and it was still a bit long <<shut up!>> but I have always treasured it and the memories that come with it.

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 10

    Well, back to the present, so to speak.


    Arrived 15 minutes early just in case.  As expected, a high school, check.


    Parking lot--full--check and uh-oh again.  Not good, for me anyway, given that it was a Saturday morning.


    Gym, check.  Poster on the wall...  Oh boy.  Master Oh was giving one of his twice yearly demonstrations of techniques that were not taught in the regular classes.  These were the techniques that you never, ever used in a competition, but were very useful indeed if someone tried to mug you.


    So, why didn''t I get a notice about it?  Another big Uh-Oh.  He didn''t want me to know.  That sneaky....


    Hmmm.  Starting at 7:30 a.m.  Bring your lunch  --  you won''t have time to leave to eat.  Ending at 5 p.m.  Good thing I always had food with me.


    <<Hey, I''m still a growing girl!  Well, OK, maybe not, but my appetite really was about three times what you''d expect from someone my size, even given my activity level.  I''d never figured out why, and now I don''t try to any more.>>


    Listening at the door I could hear occasional noises, thuds, shouts, the usual for a demonstration.  Very quiet otherwise.  Maybe not so many people after all.


    Hah!  Who was I kidding?  One of Master Oh''s special sessions would bring out people from all over the Seattle area, not just his personal students.


    10:02 and 59 seconds.  I pushed the door open and entered.


    Heads turned and stared at me.  A lot of heads.  There were some fairly widespread sniggers from the audience.  I could read their minds: "Who''s the kid dumb enough to come in this late?  Stupid beginner!"


    I stared right back and was more than a bit taken aback.  I''d underestimated the crowd by a factor of 10 or so.  Now I could see why this was taking place in a high school gym.  Every seat in the bleachers was full, and there were people standing along the walls too.  There were easily six or seven hundred people.


    Ouch!  I recognized masters from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and even two that I knew were from British Columbia.  In other words, the entire governing board for the Pacific Northwest Region was here.


    Master Oh was standing at the far end of the basketball court.  He cleared his throat, and the building was suddenly as quiet as a church on Monday morning.  "It appears that we have a student who is rather late."


    "Richards and Williamson.  Front and center."


    Two of the students I''d heard laughing the loudest when I came in hurried down from the bleachers, trotted over to Master Oh, and bowed.


    Master Oh raised his voice a bit so that everyone could hear him, "Sometimes our younger students need special instruction.  Please begin that instruction if you will."   As he said that, he was looking right at me.  OK, my first test.


    I looked over the two he''d called down.  Their belts were still a bright black, and they were just a hair stiff.  Obviously these students had recently been promoted, and from Master Oh''s slight frown, he didn''t think that they had been ready.  They must have been from one of the branch schools run by a newer instructor.  "Begin with the basic forms, then proceed as you see fit."


    The two black belts came to attention and saluted, then turned to face me.  I almost shook my head at their stupidity.  They thought that they were going to instruct me.


    I let my eyes go a bit wild, then squared my shoulders and approached as if I expected to be made a fool of, but still had dredged up a little bit of courage somewhere.


    The one named Richards approached first.  When I saw the contempt in his eyes, I knew what I had to do.  I just stood politely and waited.  Eventually he became frustrated and initiated a basic attack.


    In Hapkido (and probably any martial art) there are two responses to every attack.  One is to block, and the other, which is obviously more difficult, is to evade or deflect the attack.


    I just leaned a bit to the side and evaded.  He''d obviously been expecting me to block, and he overbalanced and almost fell on his face.  The laughter this time clearly wasn''t directed at me.


    He squared himself and attacked again.  I evaded again.  After a few of these, Williamson joined in.  It was more than a major breach of form, it went against everything that we''re taught, and, it was apparent that Master Oh had intended this from the beginning.


    I countered as per instructions, with the basic forms and worked my way through them.  Within two minutes there was dead silence as most of the audience had noticed what I was doing.  By then it must have been pretty obvious to all but the novices present that Master Oh''s instructions at the beginning were to me and not to these idiots who were now lying on the ground gasping for air.


    "Instructor Ragan."  Master Oh didn''t raise his voice, but, of course, he didn''t need to at that point.


    A giant of a man came forward.  He must have been 6'' 4" and weighed about 260 pounds.   His belt had 3 stripes on it.  "Yes Master!"


    "It seems that these students are in need of a bit more instruction, and discipline, don''t you think.


    "YES MASTER!"  He went over to Richards and WIlliamson and picked each of them up by the collar, at the same time.  Gods he was strong.


    "Stand at attention!"


    "Yes Instructor!"


    "Bow to your teacher."  They started to turn toward Master Oh, but Instructor Ragan stopped them and turned them toward me.  You always bow to the one instructing you.


    They both looked pathetically confused for a moment, then they both blushed as red as an overripe tomato as they finally realized what had happened.  They came to attention and bowed to me.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    I bowed back and said: "Dismissed".


    The pair of them shouted; "Yes Instructor!" and returned to their seats.  They looked more than a little hangdog, as they should have after that.


    Ragan turned to me and bowed.


    He raised his voice just enough to be generally heard.  "Thank you for the instruction Master Knight."


    That caused quite a stir.  Even the new kids knew that you had to be at least 5th dan to claim the title "Master."


    While the audience was calming down, Ragan whispered just for me to hear.  "They''re good kids.  They''re a bit full of themselves because they were just promoted, more so than I''d expected.  I''m still rather green too I see.  I''m sorry for that.  I think that they''ll be easier to handle now.  Thanks again."


    He bowed to me once more and then returned to his seat.


    Master Oh took the stage again.  How you ask? He just made a slight adjustment in how he was standing.  I think that someone once called it "command presence."


    "I''m a bit disappointed in almost all of you.  You jumped to conclusions when Master Knight entered.  I said that one of our students ''appeared'' to be late.  I never said that she was.  Remember this in the future.  Words should be chosen precisely and understood precisely. Making assumptions can get you killed, or, even worse, get someone you care for killed.


    "Some of you look surprised.  Hapkido is a sport you say.  What''s this talk about being killed?  You don''t watch television?  Haven''t you seen stories about random stabbings, murders, rapes?  I don''t want you jumping at shadows, but you need to be prepared at all times.  I don''t want you living in fear, but I DO want you living in the moment.  Feel the moment and embrace your surroundings.  Should a threat appear, if you practice dilligently you will automatically respond as you need to."


    When he said "diligently" he waggled his eyebrows at the younger students and got a chuckle.  (I never have figured out how he moves them independently.)


    "So, we shall proceed as planned.  Unfortunately, I can no longer know all of you personally, but that is, in its own way, good, as it means that our brotherhood is growing.


    "All of you who are 2nd to 6th dan stand."


    About 40 people stood.


    "Hmm, too crowded to have all of you down here at once.  Second dan students please be seated."


    That left about 20 people.


    "Good enough. Please come to the floor and arrange yourselves by rank, the highest closest to me."


    Some minor shuffling and then all was still again.


    "Master Knight."


    "Yes Master Oh."


    "Your task is simple. Come to me here.  I wish to speak further with you.  These students between us will obstruct you."


    Master Oh, just stood there and grinned at me, the tricky bastard.


    He continued: "I want you by my side within 5 minutes.  Continue to instruct us in the forms, continuing from where you left off."


    "Yes Master Oh!"


    Damn, not only did I have to beat all of them, he''d just told them how I was going to attack them, starting with the simpler forms coming after those I''d just used and working my way up in difficulty. Not only that, the higher level students would have time to observe how I moved before I got to them.  And I was only being allowed an average of 15 seconds each.  Wonderful...


    I thought for a bit and strategized.  Straightforward attacks for the lower levels, so the higher levels would think that I''d continue, then switch to the tricky methods for them.


    Yes, of course tricky.  There are variations of almost all forms in a martial art.  If you come at someone who is expecting a particular technique, they''re usually vulnerable to a variation of it.


    Putting thought into action, I began.  I''d already wasted almost 20 seconds thinking about what I was going to do. The trick is that most people, and even many martial artists, think of opposing force with force.  If you realize that, you can outmaneuver them every time.


    I went, somehow, into that state where there was no true distinction between thought and action.  My next conscious thoughts were that I was a bit tired and that I''d have some new bruises come tomorrow.


    Master Oh was frowning at me.  "You only had 12 seconds left.  You cut it fairly close."


    "I''m sorry Master Oh. I''ll do better next time."


    He laughed and took me gently by the shoulders then turned me around.  There were 20 people sprawled on the mats in front of me.  "Oh, I don''t know about that.  I suspect that they don''t especially want you do to better next time."


    He turned at looked at the members of the governing board.


    They looked at each other briefly and there was a brief, murmured exchange among some of them.  A bit of frowning but mostly smiles.  Then the managing director looked at Master Oh and nodded briefly.


    Master Oh turned me back around and patted me on the head.  "Well done Short Stuff, you are hereby promoted to 7th dan."


    I shouted at him, "DON''T CALL ME SHORT STUFF!"


    I felt shock and amusement coming from the audience.  NOBODY talks back to the Grandmaster!  Then some started cheering, having realized that I had just been promoted to a rank held by few enough people that most of them might never see one again except at workshops like this.


    Master Oh smiled at me. " I do love Piers Anthony, and his book ''Wielding a Red Sword'' was particularly interesting.  I''ve wanted to pull that trick on someone ever since I read about it.  You''re the first student who could have managed it.


    "Now come back out on the mats with me.  I promised to teach some higher level techniques today as well as ones at the intermediate level, and you''re going to be my practice partner."


    What could I say but, "Yes Master Oh," and then head out onto the mats for my pummeling.


    We went into full contact sparring mode.  Occasionally he''d tell me to "halt" and I''d freeze, and he''d walk over to adjust my position minutely.  Then we''d resume.


    Frequently, a LOT more frequently that I''d have liked, I''d find him holding out a hand to help me up after taking me down with one of the new techniques he was teaching.  I was definitely getting bruises on bruises.  However, bruises made you learn faster, as every good instructor throughout history has known.  It even helps some if I tell myself that now and then, say, maybe every 20 seconds or so.


    Finally, he held up his hand to signal that it was time to stop.  I looked at the clock and it said 2:07.  We''d been going at it for nearly 3 1/2 hours.


    I was suddenly ravenously hungry.  My stomach growled and he chuckled at me.  "I see that it is time for you to eat little bear.  Hopefully your hunger isn''t enough that you want to eat me."


    "Nah, you''re much too tough and stringy."


    He threw his arm around my shoulders, and I reached up a bit and slipped mine around his waist as we walked off the mats.


    The audience went wild and I finally looked around.


    (You never EVER look away from Master Oh when you''re sparring with him.  If you do, the pain will stay with you for days.)


    I noticed that they were all still in the same spots they''d been in when I''d entered.  I also noticed lots of sandwich wrappers and drink cups.  Obviously they''d paid attention to the instructions to bring food.


    I slipped out from under Master Oh''s arm and ran over to my duffel bag and brought it back.  Took out my five sandwiches and two liters of tea and got started.


    Master Oh bent down, ruffled my hair, and said, "You still eat like a bear too."


    I just grinned at him.  I was too busy shoving calories into my mouth to talk.


    He stood up and said: "Listen up people.  I''m going to get a bit to eat and drink myself, then I''ll continue by teaching your instructors the new techniques I just demonstrated.  Pay close attention while I do so.  I''m sure that they''ll be checking on how closely you''ve watched when you''re back at their schools."


    Then he frowned, very slightly.  "I expect that they will all be rather disappointed if you don''t."


    At the conclusion of that statement, there was dead silence in the gym and not a few pale faces in the audience.


    Then he smiled and said, "Bathroom breaks are hereby authorized."  The bleachers were nearly empty in 90 seconds.


    He took my hand gently in his and said, "I''ve missed you little one.  I have much to tell you, but later.  That''s why I wanted you here for two days.  Come stay at my place tonight so we can be private."

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 11

    Teardown ran from 5 till almost 7 p.m.  I''d agreed to stay with Master Oh tonight, but, since I had to pay for my room another night anyway, I decided to keep it and visit the motel for breakfast Sunday.  I didn''t want to clean out Master Oh''s kitchen, even though his wife is a fantastic cook.


    I followed him over to his home and was greeted by his wife Dok-mi, and what looked to be all his relatives down to 3rd cousins.  They all seemed happy for my promotion, and there was enough food for even "the little one who eats like an ogre."  Even though there were many times as many people as could sit at the table all at once, I had a bit of time to speak to most all of them as they rotated through.


    <<Me?  I kept eating the entire time of course.  Nothing was going to make me miss out on as much of Dok-mi''s cooking as I could possibly stuff in.>>


    Late that evening, Master Oh and I had a chance to speak alone.  As we were sharing a congenial pot of tea I asked him, "Why do you always call me ''little bear''?"


    He chuckled and ran his hand through his hair. "Well, first of all, compared to me you are little."


    OK, had to admit it, at 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, he was substantially larger than I am.


    "Secondly, I''ve always seen you as a lot like a bear.  They''re fierce, and they have prodigious appetites, but they are very good mothers."


    "Do you really think so Master?"


    "Just to look at you, you certainly don''t look ''fierce'' yet, like the canaries in the old story about the sage, you''re a lot more than you seem on the surface."


    <<Quick refresher.  An old sage was walking along a road, with 7 canaries keeping him company.  He was attacked by bandits.  Said canaries changed into their true forms -- dragons.  End of bandits. End of story.  The original is much more poetic, but I don''t think you want me spending the next five pages telling it in its entirety.


    Yes I knew that you''d like the story.  Blood tells.>>


    "Well, to be successful at my job, I need to look very ordinary, whoever I am on a given day.  I just hope that I never forget who I''m supposed to be on Tuesday and show up as the me from last Wednesday!"


    We both laughed.  I waited patiently. (I believe I mentioned that I can do that. It''s just hard, though not nearly as hard near Master Oh.  Like Master Ahn, he radiates calmness somehow.)


    Master Oh picked up his teacup and took a small sip.  He exhaled slowly and then looked directly at me for the first time since we''d sat down.  "I have something to tell you little one.  It''s going to sound a little...no...very strange, but I need to tell you.  I don''t know why, but I really need to tell you.  It''s very important too."


    He looked both stern and nervous at the same time.  "But I can''t tell you why it''s important.  I don''t know that either."


    He smiled a little apology at me.


    "Don''t be concerned Master, things in this world can be more than a little strange at times. There was a scientist who addressed it perfectly.  Let me see...  Oh yes, I remember.  I''m pretty sure that I have the wording correctly.


    "''My own suspicion is that the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.''


    "Since Jane isn''t here, I feel compelled to add what she''d say if she were.  Ahem...


    "That saying is often mis-attributed to the astronomer Sir Arthur Edgerton when it was, in fact, the English geneticist J.B.S. Haldane who said it, in a paper published in 1927."


    We both chuckled and then got back to business.


    (Yes Jane, you''re EXACTLY like that sometimes.  What?  You didn''t know that I know that you''re still reading this diary?  You really do have some growing to do.)


    Master Oh cleared his throat and began.  "It''s like this.  Each time I see you, you seem different.  As if you''re bigger somehow.  Not taller of course, but, just...bigger.  Like there''s more of you than I can see clearly.  I don''t know how to describe it."


    "Oh my.  That''s...ah...very interesting."


    " Master.  I want to tell you something too.  But first, please,  you must absolutely, totally, promise me that you''ll never repeat it to anyone, please?"


    "Of course little one, you have my word."


    "Thank you Master.  I''m sure you know about transsexual people.  The ones who feel like they were born into a body of the wrong sex?"


    "Well, I''m like that but different.  I''m quite comfortable being female, but my body doesn''t feel right.  It seems that I should somehow be in a larger body.  It''s nothing to do with my height insecurity.  That problem is totally different and I''ve felt that way about how tall I am for a very long time."


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    <<Well, duh!  Of course I know that it''s irrational.>>


    "I''m afraid I can''t explain it any more than you can your feeling."


    Master Oh took a deep breath and struck a dramatic pose.  "When the winds of a typhoon blow, one must bend like the bamboo.  If you try to oppose the wind, you will eventually be shattered and will fall."


    I thought about it a bit.


    "That''s very profound Master.  Is that some sort of ancient Korean saying?"


    He laughed, a full belly laugh.  "Nah, I got it from some cheesy ''60s Japanese martial arts cartoon I saw when I was a kid, but it does seem to fit, doesn''t it?"


    We both pondered a while, then he spoke again.


    "I have something for you.  I found it a while back in....hmmm I don''t remember where I found it, but when I saw it I knew that it was meant for you.  Here."


    He held out his hand and dropped an object into mine.  It was only about four cm high but it felt quite heavy for its size.  It was an exquisitely carved dragon made of some metallic substance that I didn''t recognize.


    The whiskers, claws, and mane were covered with gold.


    "Master, this is a wonderful gift.  I will treasure it!"


    "Treasuring it is not the point.  Pay attention!"


    "Yes Master!"


    "You are to keep it with you at all times from this day forward.  You are NOT to EVER be without it.  I don''t care if you''re asleep, in the bath, or at a Hapkido competition.  Do you understand?"


    "No Master, I don''t, but I will do as you say."


    "Good."  He shrugged and managed to look a bit sheepish.  "I don''t understand either, but do it anyway."


    "Yes Master, I will."


    After that, we chatted about this and that.  Finally he yawned and said, "I''m getting a bit tired. I think I''ll be off."


    "Good night Master.  I''ll see you whenever."


    "Yes, good night little bear.  Sleep well."


    Then he was gone, and I was left alone with my thoughts.  I thought of a great many things in the next hour or so, but I didn''t find any miraculously revealing answers, so I went to bed.


    -------------------------


    Not unsurprisingly I slept like the proverbial rock.  Woke up aching everywhere -- same old drill as usual.  A hot shower with some stretching afterwards and I was feeling somewhat better.  The aspirin helped quite a bit too.


    Went downstairs and nodded hello to Mrs. Oh.  Master Oh was still sleeping, and I expected him to be until long after I was gone.  He keeps very late hours.


    <<No, he didn''t go to bed when he left the room the night before.  He was probably up for another 2 or 3 hours.  He just wanted to give me time alone to think.  He''s quite the gentleman.>>


    I blessed Mrs. Oh profusely for making me coffee.  Fortunately she''s an even earlier riser than I am.


    Packed up what little I had with me and drove back to the motel for breakfast.  Got some very strange looks from the staff when I came in the front door and headed for the breakfast buffet, but my room key was still valid so they let me gorge myself again.


    The dubious looks turned to smiles when they saw the size of the tip I left for them as I went to check out.  It''s amazing what a few bucks extra will do for the morale of minimum wage employees.  Given the crap that most of them have to deal with from abusive customers, they don''t get paid nearly enough!


    Headed back south toward Salem after I''d sent Jane a text with the single word "coming" in it.


    Hell no I don''t text and drive!  I wouldn''t think of looking away from Master Oh during a sparring session, and he''s not half as dangerous as the average driver.  There''s no way in the world that I''m going to look away from all the idiots on the highway.  That''s just asking for Death to stop by and punch your card for free.  There were already too many people out there who wanted me dead.


    What a wonderful thought to start the morning with.  Unfortunately it was quite true.  On the plus side, it didn''t seem likely that any of them could possibly have any idea of who I was, or even my age, or sex for that matter.  It''s likely that what they might be looking for is some group with several smallish, agile agents.


    (Yes, I wear shoes that are built up at least 2" at all times when working where I expect someone to see me, but there''s only so much you can do, and even 5'' 2" is pretty short nowadays. Especially if you''re pretending to be a male.)


    Hmm, given our (my) size, they''re pretty likely to think that we''re Asian.  It might be possible to misdirect them in that direction with a bit of careful help. That means Jane.


    How did they figure out my size (whoever they are)?  I''m darned certain that there were no video records anywhere, but some of the places I''d gotten into were far too small for anyone taller than about 5'' 6", and that would be a squeeze.  Whoever these people are, they aren''t idiots.


    Need to think more about that when I get home.  And before you ask, no I haven''t told you about even half of the work I do.


    <<What?  How do I know that they''re after me?  Isn''t it obvious?  "If you don''t see them they must be there."  I''m sure I told you that earlier.  Pay better attention.


    Oh.  I, ah, didn''t tell you before?  Oops.  Sorry.  Getting back to the important part here.>>


    ----------------------


    Ah, Home Sweet Home. Good to be back.


    Damn but it feels good to say that word: "Home".  So simple but something I never had till 4 years ago.  And it''s only been two weeks now that I wasn''t worrying about having it taken away from me.


    (Yes Jane, I should have realized it a year ago when you turned 18, but I''ve been pretty busy.


    Figurative tongue sticking out here.  Yes I''m being childish, so what?  You''re supposed to be in touch with your inner child.  I''m sure it says so in some pedantic, New Age volume of philosophy somewhere.)


    "Jane, I''m home!"  As expected no answer.  Down to her workroom and, much to my surprise she wasn''t there.


    Checked the place we hide notes for each other.


    <<Yes we hide them.  It''s a bit inconvenient, but security and all that you know.>>


    Found it.   "Dear Mama, something came up that requires my personal attention, should be back around 4.  With love, J."


    <<Crap!  Well, yes, I''m a worry-wart. Too many years of  --  OK, OK.  I get it.  I''m beating a dead horse.  What?  You already know about my traumatic background, how dangerous my work is, and how much I worry about Jane?  All right already!   I won''t bring it up again.  Geez!


    Hee-hee.  Took you long enough to say something about it.   I thought I''d have driven you nuts some time back by harping on that over and over.  GOTCHA!


    Hey, it''s one of my little pleasures.  Live with it.>>

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 12

    Got myself unpacked and my things into the wash.  Made a snack.


    <<Yes, fortunately my sandwiches are edible.  Go figure.>>


    Got a book out and settled down with the cats, one each on the sides of my legs, and one on my shoulders.


    <<Another hint for you.  Get your pets, dog or cat, used to NOT being able to get in your lap when you''re reading.  How can you relax when you have a cat in your lap and you have to hold your book out on your knees?


    How do you do that?  Same as when you train a kid.  Discipline.  And lots of kitty lovings when they do what you want.  With dogs you might only need to use food as a reward.  They''re simpler beings.


    Besides, if you have to get up really fast, a cat on the lap is a hazard, especially for men.  Just saying.>>


    Eventually Jane came home, and, as usual she was carrying in incredible amount of equipment with her. (She''s quite the scavenger. Her workshop is crammed nearly full of stuff that she says she''ll make something out of eventually.  Who knows, maybe she will someday.)


    Not as usual, she''d come in through the front door.  She put everything down on the floor, right by the door, came into the living room and sat down on the edge of the chair across from me.


    "Mama, we have to talk."


    "What?  No welcome home or anything?"


    "Mama, we have to talk."


    Uh-oh.  I knew that I wasn''t going to like this.


    "Mama, there''s been a security leak, and it''s you."


    "WTF!  ME!  What the flying HELL are you talking about?"  Majorly freaking out here.  Do you blame me?


    "Jane, you know my security measures.  How could I be a leak?"


    "OK, maybe I said that a bit wrong.  Not you, but your contact.  The man who sets up all your courier runs and your ''retrieval'' jobs."


    "Huh?!  I''ve been working with him for years and....ah......SHIT!"


    "That''s right Mama.  He''s the only person in the world who knows how to contact you directly and approximately where in the world you are at any given time."


    "You met him before you found me.  Simple deduction alone would tell me that he''s not exactly what you''d ordinarily call a ''law-abiding citizen''.  Is he?"


    "Well, no, I suppose not.  But he knows that I won''t do any jobs that are illegal.  I can''t afford to considering my clients."


    "Mama, Mama, Mama.  You can be so naive sometimes."


    (Jane calling ME naive.  I think that the Earth may have just reversed its rotation!)


    "How do you know that all your jobs were legal?  You trust him implicitly.  If he told you that they were straight, how''d you know any better?


    "He gets a percentage of everything you do.  He''s not going to kill the golden goose by dumping you because of your ethics, but I''ll bet anything that he''s not always been straight with you when the fee was large enough."


    Damn.  Jane''s logic is as precise as a cutting laser.  When she turns her attention to something, she never flinches -- no matter how unpleasant the results.


    "OK Honey, so what did you do about it?"


    She put on her most innocent face and said, "Whatever do you mean Mama?"


    "Don''t give me that.  You wouldn''t have told me about this unless you''ve already gone into every single detail and ramification thereof.  It''s not in your character.  You''re terribly OCD that way.  Fortunately, that''s a good thing for us."


    "Ah, well, yes... I have sorta been ah...."


    "Snooping. The word is snooping."


    "But Mama, that''s such an inelegant word.  Can''t you say ''scrutinizing the data'' or something like that?"


    Well, that got a bit of a tiny laugh from me.  I could certainly use something to get me out of my depression.


    "All right Janie, what did you find?  Tell me.  All of it   And tell me what you did about it too."


    "Sure Mama."


    She took a deep breath.  "I want you to understand that I was very, very thorough with this.  I didn''t want even a hint of a loose end left."


    I grabbed the arms of the chair and dug in. The cats flew off in all directions, they were, unfortunately, quite accustomed to me at my worst.


    My knuckles were WAY beyond white.  A totally thorough Jane was worse than any force of nature.  It''s as if she transcends nature somehow.


    <<No, you don''t have to understand that right now, just believe me.>>


    "I tapped into his phone records.  Well, Homeland Security did it for me.  They just got a secret court order.  Then it was my turn.


    "No, all that crap you see on that NCIS TV program with McGuff, McGreavy, oh heck, whatever his name is, tapping into phone records in a few seconds is total garbage.  If I had to hack into Homeland Security''s system it would take several hours.  And they''d probably find out that they''d been hacked -- eventually.  They have some good people working for them now, so I had to do it properly through their regular channels.


    "Once I got the phone records it wasn''t hard to figure out where his base of operations was.  Then a couple of more days to find and tap his computer.  Would you believe how pitiful his security was?  His password was 123654 for crying out loud.  What an idiot!


    "Anyway, I found a lot.  Maybe too much.


    "As it turns out, he kept fairly meticulous records of all his transactions.  A bit too meticulous for him, given how the situation evolved.


    "It seems that you''re two different people Mama.  For your commercial endeavors you''re a business called Acme Inc.  Your reputation for safe, efficient, and totally surreptitious deliveries is unparalleled.


    "He underpaid you by an average of 47% for the jobs he set up by the way.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Moving right along, before you can explode, let''s get to the other side of the business.  The records of your regular ''retrieval'' jobs, like the one where the FBI agent spotted you, were part of Acme''s files.


    "Your other persona is El Gatito.  Not very original, but it gets the point across I guess.  You wear a pendant of a cat head with green eyes, on a silver chain no less.  You can get anything out of anywhere.  No questions asked.


    "And that''s the problem.  ALL of those jobs were outright thefts."


    Jane nodded at me and whispered, "That''s probably for the best Mama.  You just sit there and be shocked and quiet while I finish."


    I''d probably have a shrieking fit later, but for now I thought that I''d just do what Jane said and sit here and let the feeling of total betrayal wash over me.  It''s not every day that you find out that someone you''ve trusted for 17 years has been playing you.


    "Oh, and when you get to the yelling and destroying things part, please remember not to break any of the heavy equipment Mama.  It cost over four thousand dollars to replace what you broke last time.


    "Well then, as I was saying...  I think I was quite as mad at him as you are now when I found out, so I investigated him a bit more thoroughly than I''d intended at first.  It seems that he had another sideline that was not so very nice.


    "He was working with Coyotes -- you know -- the people who smuggle humans across the borders.  Some of the people they smuggled in were planning not so nice things.


    "They''re not planning them anymore.  I sent ALL his records on that part of his work to Homeland Security.  They''ve been watching the Coyote operations for years, waiting for a break.  Well, I gave it to them.


    "They finished the arrests, him included, yesterday afternoon.  They''re all at Guantanamo Bay right now.  They''ll probably get around to admitting that they have them and arrange for trials some time in the next 10 years or so.


    "Somehow all of his records showing that you were El Gatito disappeared.  I can''t imagine how though.  There''s no record anywhere in the world now of that part of your life at all.


    "Nobody, nobody  --  now or ever  --  is going to betray you and get away with it."


    Such simple words.  Words of only 1 to 3 syllables.  Words, spoken so very, very softly by a beautiful and very young girl.  And they terrified me to the depths of my soul because I felt them with my whole being, as if the entire universe were reverberating in response to them.


    Jane looked at me piercingly, and her gorgeous, lavender eyes truly glowed.  "I WILL protect you Mama. Just as you protected me for all these years.  We''re together now and I WILL NOT EVER let us be separated again."


    She closed her eyes for a few seconds and the earth resumed rotating.  When she opened them again Jane was back to her normal, calm, logical self.


    "The FBI found a body for me.  One of those, sad, desperate young men who died in the Arizona desert trying to get from Mexico to California to get work.  He was about 29 or so, no ID. Nothing in his pocket but a rosary.


    "KCRA in Fresno reported yesterday on the death, from apparent heat stroke, of an Hispanic male, about 5'' 2" tall.  The only identifying possessions he had were a cheap rosary and a silver chain with a pendant of a cat''s head with green eyes.  The people who needed to hear that will assume that their favorite go-to thief was murdered by someone and dumped in the desert and that the FBI is covering it up by reporting it as heat stroke so they can conduct a quiet investigation."


    She dropped her voice back to her normal, almost clinical tones.  "I had to make a deal though.  Even though there''s no record of you being involved in any criminal activities, there''s a certain, um, suspicion, that you may have been used by him anyway."


    "A deal?  What did you get me, us, into?"


    "I had to agree that we''d work for them full time.  You don''t work for the business sector any more Mama, you work for the Feds.  I have to shut down all of my operations except those that connect with Interpol and other police agencies.


    "My employees will continue with the security work  --  it''s still a good cover, but 90% of my time belongs to the agencies."


    I started a weak protest, but she cut me off with a wave.


    "It''s either that or you''re off to Gitmo as a possible accomplice.  I know it''s totally unfair, and that they really ARE seeing conspiracies where they don''t exist, but it''s the best I could do.  They still see me as a kid and are afraid that if I don''t have ''proper supervision'' I''ll turn into some sort of Super-Villain!  The idiots!"


    She threw her hands into the air and started bouncing in her chair.   There was a very good reason why her friends tended to tease her by calling her "Tigger".


    That habit was something that I''d never been able to completely break her of.  Thank God she almost never did it in public any more.  While she was bouncing, I was thinking that these bureaucrats, whomever they were, had indeed bumbled their way to a bit of the truth.  Not THE truth, but a tiny truth.  The thing is, they were thinking way too small.  If Jane had somehow been bent by what she''d been through, she wouldn''t be a super-villain, she''d be the dictator who controlled the entire planet before she was 40.


    While I was thinking, Jane picked up again, "Mr. Forsythe and the others I work with regularly know that it''s total hogwash, but they have no say in the matter either.  The intelligence community is like any other bureaucracy.  The political types float at the top, just like pond scum, and give all kinds of idiotic orders that the field agents pretty much ignore or find some way to work around when they can''t completely ignore them."


    I didn''t raise her to be so cynical, but I AM inordinately proud her insight.


    "BUT, you still have to observe the proper forms, so we''re both now on the books as full time FBI personnel, provisionally, with ''tight'' supervision.  Said supervisors will be sending back increasingly glowing reports detailing our dedication and hard work, and eventually, when the current bureaucracy changes  --  probably at the next election, the incoming people will have never heard of us, and they never will. That has already been arranged."


    "Well SHIT!"  That was about all I could manage coherently.  I must have been more calm than I thought, because the cats were back and demanding attention.  I pulled Kataryna into my lap and calmed her with some intensive petting while she helped me calm down by purring quite loudly.  A good trade from both our points of view.


    Jane always was good at assessing my moods, so she stuck her hand in her pocket, walked over to me, and pulled out another wallet ID.


    I opened it up and, sure enough, it was another Internal Affairs, Special Agent badge, this time for the FBI.


    You''d think that the various government branches would be more creative.  It seems that almost all of them had some sort of "Special Agent" classification.  Well, at least I wouldn''t have to remember which agency I was which kind of agent for.  And, yes, as you''d imagine, I got that special ''tingle'' from this one too.  But this time it was coming from the seal on the ID card side.  At least the photo sort of looked like me this time.


    "So Jane, what are we going to be doing?"


    "I''m going to be doing pretty much what I already do.  Arrange things so that the operations of certain ''bad people'' somehow fall apart on them in such a way that the police can legally arrest them.  Naturally none of what happens will ever be traceable back to the government.  We can''t have murderers, pushers, and slave trader''s rights being violated, can we?"


    No, of course I didn''t bother to answer.  Obviously a rhetorical question anyway.


    "No change in our covers either.  We''re only the NSA Intern and the CIA Internal Affairs agent.   Naturally we could never have anything to do with actual field operations.  Heaven forbid!  I''m much too green to be trusted with anything of any real importance, and you''re never in one place long enough to be involved with any significant operations.


    "You just happen to be two different people now, one FBI and the other CIA  --  and that''s nothing new for you.  Heck, you can be three different people before breakfast!"


    Only Jane laughed, and it had almost no trace of amusement.  As for me, I was still too shocked to find much of anything funny.


    "If you happen to show up at an active investigation site, you''re just an extra body dragged in to help with the gofer work because they''re short-handed.  The real investigative work will be handled by the regular field agents.


    "Same with me.  I''ll be the apprentice geek who was drafted to set up a satellite link or whatever.  I''ll be a bit on the slow side, befitting my lowly status and inexperience, but, since nobody else there will know how to do the job, they''ll put up with me.  Besides, most of the guys will be too busy staring at my chest to think about complaining, and the women will be too busy making sure that someone gets the work done to pay any attention to me.


    "If certain things such as flash drives with incriminating evidence on them are found on the floor, or the paper records of their deals should just happen to be stuck to the bottom of a drawer, well, that''ll just be due to sloppy housekeeping on the part of the bad guys.


    "And if there''s highly incriminating data on a hard drive the criminal forgot to encrypt, well, what a lucky thing for the district attorney!


    "If you can be such a sneaky thief, I''m sure that you can be just as sneaky at planting evidence."


    Jane got her musing face on.  "Though I expect that this may be the first time in history that the planted evidence will be true."


    Good, she had a bit of her usual mischievous smile back and she was thinking clearly and calmly.  I needed her calm.  It wouldn''t be good for both of us to go ballistic at the same time.  Too dangerous for the neighborhood, or maybe the city.  I still had a training room to wreck later, and I didn''t want to be late for my appointment just because I had to calm Jane down first.

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 13

    After those wonderful and exciting revelations, I went down to my second workroom to unwind a bit.  I was afraid that Jane was right about what I might break in the training room, but this workroom was all about control.  Not the one for painting, but the one where I made jewelry.


    How many rooms do we have in the house?  Enough.


    LOL, OK.  At the moment we''re at about 6,500 square feet, not counting the training room which is a converted pole barn.  Six bedrooms, the three workrooms, and 6 1/2 baths, not counting the humongous one that''s connected to the training room and the main hallway.  We also have a few unfinished rooms that we haven''t decided what to do with yet.


    Big?  Yep, pretty much.  After living in a string of fairly grimy apartments for 13 years, I felt an urge to have space, lots of space, when we moved here.   Besides it was a bargain.  A short-sale foreclosure.  Pretty sad for whoever lost the property, but a great deal for us.  It took three months for the bank to accept our offer, but we weren''t in any particular hurry.  One of the best things about the house is that, being in the woods, you can''t see how big it is unless you''re in the air.


    <<Well of course we monitor anything that overflies us.  You had to ask?  All we do though is store hi-res images of whatever it is, just in case.  No we don''t have radar, you idiot!  That''d be like setting off a flare and saying "Come on over here.  We have something we''re trying to hide!">>


    Oh.  Where exactly did we settle down?  We''re in the hills to the southwest of Salem, outside the Urban Growth Boundary.


    What''s an Urban Growth Boundary?  Basically a line in the sand.  Nothing other than single family homes and agricultural operations are allowed outside the line.  No property can be subdivided.  Why?  A lot of the state is farm country.  Orchards, vineyards, nurseries, various crops.  Also a very rare pig raising operation, a few dairies.  No cattle feedlots that I''ve ever heard of though.


    The farm lobby is strong here, and it''s good thing in my book.  Pave over enough farms and you''re in deep doo-doo if something shuts down the infrastructure that delivers food from other regions.


    While the zoning regs only allow single family homes, it doesn''t restrict their size.   There are some at least twice as big as ours.


    When we put on the first expansion, we left space for more in the design so not much demolition will be needed if we decide to add more rooms.  That and we remodeled the kitchen so it would be big enough to feed 10 or 12 people regularly.  Why?  It seemed like a good idea at the time.


    More rooms?  Maybe.  All I know is that it''s better to be prepared for everything than to be caught with your panties down around your knees when someone breaks down the door.


    Getting back to where I was before a certain someone interrupted me.


    I went into my jewelry workroom and took the little dragon that Master Oh had given me out of my pocket.  If I was supposed to have it with me all the time, I needed something better to do with it than just shoving it into whatever pocket I could find when I went out.


    Such a strange little piece.  It really did feel heavier than it looked.  No idea what it''s made of either.  The first thing I needed to do was to find out.


    Back on my feet and went down to Jane''s workroom.


    "Janie, do you still have that infrared spectrometer buried in here somewhere?"


    "Sure Mama, you need something checked?"


    "Yep.  Is it still working?"


    Got myself a glare AND eye-rolling as a response to that question.  Kids....


    "Master Oh gave me this, and it seems heavier than it should for its size.  I''d like to know what it''s made of."


    She didn''t answer, but held her hand out, rather imperiously I might add, and waited.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    I stretched my hand toward her and she snatched the dragon.  Then she looked down and saw what she was holding, and she cooed at it.  "Oh, aren''t you a little beauty!  Auntie Jane needs to find out what you''re made of, so I need just a tiny bit of you to put in my spectrometer."


    "Let''s see...ah...right there!


    "Mama, there''s one area on the back that''s a little rough.  If you polish it smooth, I can use the dust from that for the test."


    Held out my hand and had the dragon deposited in it, very carefully this time.


    Back down the hall to my workroom.  Found the spot Jane mentioned and got out a fine diamond polishing wheel for my Dremel tool.  Carefully collected the resulting dust.  Then back down to see Jane again.  At least I was getting a bit of exercise this afternoon.


    (Our rooms are at opposite ends of the house.  When we want to be together, we go to the living room or breakfast nook.  Otherwise we both prize our privacy.)


    "Perfect.  That''ll work just fine Mama.  Let me just get this sample prepped and in the right slot...."


    She did some esoteric things involving two glass disks and some sort of oily liquid from a bottle that she handled rather carefully.  Then she put the resulting assemblage into a slot on the spectrometer.


    "There, ready."


    She plugged a USB cable into the spectrometer and then into one of her smaller computers, which she then booted up.  Once the main screen was up, she ran through various menus faster than I could track.  Then she gave a final flick to a key and turned back to me.


    "It''ll only take about 30 seconds now.  The computer will automatically compare the spectrum against the database, and we''ll have our answer."


    "That''s all Janie?"


    "Yeah, IR is pretty fast. Not like a mass spectrometer, but we shouldn''t need that here, I hope.  And speaking of which, here we go."


    "Ah ha, no wonder it feels heavy.  It''s made of rhenium diboride.  It''s the 2nd densest mineral on the planet.  Naturally black in color, or sometimes silver, depending on whether or not other elements are mixed in.  Also there are only 4 things on earth that are stronger, and 2 of them are forms of diamond.  Did you know that there''s one naturally occurring material stronger than diamond?  It''s called wurtzite boron nitri..."


    She stopped when she saw the look on my face.


    "Ah...be that as it may Mama, that doesn''t explain why it felt hot when I held it."


    "Hot? That''s odd Jane. It doesn''t feel hot to me, though it does seem a bit warmer than the room.  No biggie.  It''s probably because I had it in my hand for several minutes before I brought it to you."


    "That''s probably it Mama.  Is there anything else you need right now?  I''d sorta like to get back to what I was doing."


    "That''s about it honey, thanks.  I''ll see you at dinner."


    "Mmmph."  She''d already turned back to her primary computer and was immersed in all three monitors at once as best I could tell.


    Back to the workroom again.


    The answer to the question of how to carry it had answered itself when I turned it over to polish the rough spot.  There was a small tunnel from side to side in the back, obviously meant for a chain.   And I had just the right thing on hand.


    I pulled out one of the smaller gold chains and checked it for size -- perfect.


    The gold and black combination looked very exotic and beautiful.  Unfortunately beautiful wouldn''t work if someone should grab at it and try to pull it off me.  Gold breaks pretty easily when it''s stretched.  So what I needed to do was reinforce it.


    And speaking of which...  Ah ha!  Now if I could just find it.   Jane isn''t the only packrat in the family.


    <<No. Of course I''m not going to admit it to her.  What a silly question.>>


    Eventually I found what I was looking for: Some fine titanium 11 wire.  It took me 20 minutes to weave the wire through the chain, but with that there too, it would be almost impossible to break the chain, without breaking me too, in which case I wouldn''t be in any condition to care about the dragon any more.  Plus the bluish metallic color of the wire looked good with the gold.


    Then I affixed a heavy duty screw clasp to the ends and tried it on.  Perfect fit.  It''d hang down just above my breasts where nobody would see it.


    <<One word from you about breasts and you''re going down to the training room with me later.  I have no problem at all with breaking another living being instead of hardware.  Besides, you''re likely  not breakable anyway.  I probably couldn''t do more than bruise you no matter what I did.


    What''s that?  You didn''t say a word?  I thought not.


    You have a question?  A serious one?  Ok. shoot.


    Why do I have so many odd metals in my workshop?  Not just silver, gold, and platinum?


    Well, basically they can all be very pretty with a proper design.  And it''s fun when someone admires a piece and asks what it is and they have no idea what mean when I say that it''s made of silver and iridium or platinum and titanium.


    Not to mention the challenge of making all those wires work together.


    What do you mean I have a twisted sense of humor?  After all this time you hadn''t realized that?  You''re slower than I thought.


    OW!  I told you before not to hit me!>>

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 14

    The next day we got back to business. It looked like the repairs to the training room wouldn''t cost more than a few hundred dollars. Once we figured that out, Jane and I both heaved great sighs of relief. Her because it wouldn''t cost as much as she''d feared, and me because if it had been substantially more, she would have nagged me about it for weeks.


    Well you would Jane, so there!


    After lunch I was in my bedroom tidying up little odds and ends that I''d ignored previously, when Jane suddenly stormed in.


    "You.....you....how.....you couldn''t.......impossible........you......"


    "You already said that Jane, what''s on your mind?"


    "HOW IN THE WORLD did you know that I was still reading your diary? I''m absolutely positive that I didn''t leave any signs and...oops!"


    She clapped her hands over her mouth so hard that I thought for a moment that she''d knock herself over backwards.


    "Too late. MUCH too late Honey. Let''s just say that I have my ways. Let me also say that I''ve also read Podkayne of Mars. If your brain was turned on, you''d remember that I''m the one who gave it to you when we were in Fresno. You''re way too sneaky not to have tried something like that by now."


    <<That was just a guess, but I wanted to see how she reacted. BINGO! She''s gotten almost as tricky as I am. That''s my girl!>>


    "Now shoo. I have things to do besides paddling your butt. Besides, you might hit back."


    Jane backed up slowly, hands still over her mouth, astonishment all over her face. That and maybe a fair amount of respect. No way was I going to tell her that it was all guesswork and a bluff. Parents need at least a FEW secrets from their children.


    (Yes Jane, I know that you''ll be reading this eventually, but in the future you''ll never know when I KNOW and when I''m guessing. I need to keep you on your toes.)


    Seeing as how she was backing up, she had a good view of my dragon tapestry when she got to the door. She dropped her hands and stared at it.


    "Mama, what did you do to your tapestry?"


    "What do you mean sweetheart?"


    "Both the front feet have 4 toes, and 2 claws on each foot are gold. That''s what I mean. I''m sure that there were only 3 toes before and that the claws were black, like the rest of them."


    I meandered over as nonchalantly as I could, and made as if I was peering at it closely.


    "I do believe that you''re right. Interesting."


    Then I went over to my dresser and continued rearranging things. That and pretending to ignore her.


    She got the message and indignantly huffed her way down the hall. No way was I going to mention that I hadn''t noticed that it had changed again. I''d been too tired when I came in last night. I especially wasn''t going to let on that I had no more idea of what was going on than she did.


    At dinner she was almost ready to admit that I was still among the living and worth talking to, so I figured that I''d start.


    "I got a report from Mr. Forsythe this afternoon about our double break-in two weeks ago. It''s rather handy knowing that he''ll talk to me directly now. They''ve ID''d the female and are following her, discretely, to see if she leads them anywhere useful.


    "It seems that our client was able to duplicate that prototype device that she stole in just over a week, so they''re back on track -- just a small delay that shouldn''t be critical."


    I stopped talking and took a big mouthful of pasta and waited. I also chewed quite slowly.


    Jane finally couldn''t take it anymore, so she asked, "What about the male?"


    "Oh him. They caught him within 5 days. Apparently his employers were trying to extort a couple million for the security codes. It seems that they couldn''t figure out how to get past the encryption on the data, or get access to one of the client''s buildings, and figured that the second best option was to at least ransom them back.


    "His prints had been on file and, can you believe it? He was on parole. They knew right where he was and just picked him up when he reported for his regular visit to his parole officer.


    "I''m told that he was astonished that the police had figured out that he''d been out of town to do the job. He kept asking them how they''d broken the security on his little program that made it seem like he and his ankle bracelet were still in his house.


    "You were right. He had no idea that he''d been picked up by matching his prints. Good job on both the codes and the trap Janie!"


    That got her back to normal. A little blush and a big smile at the compliment.


    <<A word of warning here. NEVER EVER compliment your kids unless they deserve it. They''ll know if you''re faking it and they''ll never believe you again. If that happens, it''s probably ''game over'' for your relationship unless you put several years into repairing it, and you might not have that much time.>>


    "As for things in general, it''s about as we expected. A number of atypical crimes, all over the place. About 1/3 of them were present or past clients of one or both of us, which is way too many for it to have been totally random. We weren''t notified because they wanted this to die down naturally when the ''enemy'' or ''enemies'' failed to see any kind of organized response.


    "A couple of the crimes have been solved, several not. About what you''d expect with normal police investigations. Mr. Forsythe says that it''s probably OK for us to start getting active again, carefully."


    -------------------


    We were still taking things easy, and it was Friday before we realized it. We were at breakfast when it happened. All of a sudden Jane fell to the floor and grabbed her head. I felt like something weighing several tons was about to fall on me and braced my feet like I was shipboard and in a choppy sea.


    She croaked out: "Shield, shield!" and slapped her hand on something on her belt. I rather belatedly remembered and thwacked the case in my shirt pocket.


    (Later on I might laugh a bit at the irony but only when I was in private. In spite of my protestations to the contrary, it really was easy to reach there and it fit all too well in the pocket.)


    The pressure stopped immediately and Janie slowly pushed herself up off the floor and moaned.


    "What the freaking HELL was that? I thought my head was going to be turned inside out!"


    She looked up and glared at me. "And how come you weren''t affected by, whatever it was, as much as I was? You looked panicky, so I know that you felt something."


    "Beats me. Are you sure that you''re all right? You look awful."


    "I feel awful, but it''s fading fast. Hmmm close your eyes and point Mama."


    "Huh?"


    "Just do it, right now! Close your eyes and point."


    Whatever. I figured that she was a bit out of it from getting hit by whatever it was, so I humored her. I closed my eyes and pointed.


    "OK Mama, you can open your eyes."


    I did. I saw that she was pointing too and that we both were pointing essentially the same direction. North and a bit to the east. Right toward the Portland Metro area.


    Then it came again, but not nearly as strongly. This time it only lasted a few seconds.


    Without speaking we both closed our eyes and pointed again. Once again, when we opened our eyes, we were pointing toward Portland.


    "Do you have any plans in particular today Mama?"


    "Not that I can''t cancel easily Janie. Tell you what. Why don''t we go on a shopping trip up north. We can stop in Wilsonville, at Fry''s. You can get some electronic doo-dads, and I can look at DVDs. Then we can drop by Washington Square and Clackamas Town Center and see what we can find there."


    Jane clapped her hands and gave out with a girlish squeal. "That sounds like a LOT of fun Mama. And you know what, if anything like this should happen again while we''re there, isn''t it interesting that those three locations would let us do a rough triangulation of wherever this thing is. Whatever it is."


    I clapped my hands together and giggled. "What a wonderful idea. I wish I''d thought of that."


    We looked at each other then collapsed on the floor laughing.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    <<Hey, when you''re terrified as often as I was and, sorrowfully, as often as Jane was becoming, you''ll do stupid things like that to reduce the stress. Otherwise you become non-functional or crazy. I don''t like the idea of either choice, so prevention is job number one.>>


    We got organized. Cats cuddled and fed. Spare clothes and IDs just in case. Threw the FBI issue jackets and bullet proof vests in the trunk. Fortunately an obviously clueless courier (who''d have thunk?) had dropped them and a box of other things off earlier in the week. Remember, constructive paranoia is constructive! Gotta love that Boy Scout motto "Be Prepared." At least that part of their organization was spot on.


    Raided the fridge for sandwiches and tea, then we headed off to I-5 and whatever lay ahead of us.


    .


    <<Yes as a matter of fact I DO always have sandwiches ready. When I get hungry sometimes it''s either have food in the fridge or eat the cat''s food. I know what MY choice is.>>


    As we headed up the highway, we were hit sporadically by whatever it was. Not all that hard now. It had a sort of drowsy feel to it.


    We pulled off the freeway at Wilsonville and did pull into the Fry''s parking lot, but only long enough to do the pointy thing and put a line on the map.


    Same thing at Washington Square and then Clackamas Town Center. Yes, technically you only need two lines to triangulate, but we were pointing our fingers for gods'' sake!


    It took longer each time and the pulses felt even more sleepy. Oddly enough there was a hint of panic in each of them now. No, I don''t have any idea how you can feel sleepy and panicky at the same time.


    Our lines almost intersected. They formed a tight triangle just north of OMSI, in the warehouse district east of the Willamette River in Portland.


    Jane got on the phone and started punching.


    "What''s up honey?"


    "Hang on a second Mama, I''ve had an idea.


    "Hi Mr. Forsythe. Yes, I''m fine. You and your wife doing OK? That''s great. Say, I have a little question for you.


    "What do you mean you''d better call in the Air Force when I say that? Besides, she''s probably sitting next to you, right? It really is just a little thing.


    "Of course, of course. I really DO understand. Right. It won''t take much time. Truly.


    "Sure. I''ll make it brief. Do you, meaning the FBI, just by chance, happen to have something going on -- right now -- within about 2 or 3 blocks north of OMSI?"


    She held the phone away from her ear so as not to be deafened by the noise. Once the shouting stopped she put the phone back to her ear.


    "Yes, one of my nerds got wind of it, but he had no idea what it was about. Why yes, we''re close by."


    I was already on my way out of the parking lot. We could be there in about 15 minutes if I headed west on Harmony Rd. and then onto 224 and up SE 17th.


    Jane had stopped talking and her face got darker and darker and more stern than I''d ever seen it before.


    "I see. Yes of course. We''ll stay in the background as long as we''re not needed. I agree. We don''t want anyone figuring out who we are.


    "Ah, you''ll let the agent in charge know that some more out of town backup will be coming in shortly, just in case. Thanks. Yes. We''ll let you know if anything happens outside of the ordinary. Love to the Missus too. Bye.


    "You know Mama. He knows too much and can do things MUCH too quickly to really be retired."


    "Yep. I have to agree. That speaks of some sort of high level communications center in his home.


    "Anyway, GIVE. What are we getting ourselves into?"


    Jane spoke in the monotone I''ve always associated with some rape victims. I think it''s almost as horrible for the police to hear as it is for the victim to tell it. (No, please, don''t ask how I know.)


    "They call it ''human trafficking'' Mama. Can you believe this society? It''s freaking SLAVERY and they still try to be politically correct and gloss it over with ''human trafficking''.


    "I saw a story on it on TV last week. Apparently Portland is a major center for it. There''s been some sort of joint investigation by the local U.S. Attorney, the FBI, and the Portland police. There are people flying into Portland on sex vacations so they can rape underage girls.


    "The AVERAGE age is 13. Some have been as young as 8."


    By now Jane was weeping, silently, but her shoulders were shaking enough that the car was shaking with her. To tell the truth, I wanted to join her, but I couldn''t drive if my eyes teared up too much.


    "The FBI has tracked one of the groups ''importing'' new girls to a warehouse by the river. They''re going to raid it in a few minutes. We''ll have to park a couple blocks or so away and walk in. Keep the FBI windbreaker under your arm until we get there. Forget the vests."


    "OK honey, let''s go see if we can help."


    ----------------


    We arrived and parked south of some vegetable wholesaler and sauntered up the road. For a few seconds that is. The force that hit us this time almost knocked both of us off our feet.


    I saw Jane hit her shield so fast that her hand seemed to blur.


    What I felt this time wasn''t sleepy at all. It was full-on panic accompanied by a wordless cry that seemed to be shouting at us to "HURRY HURRY HURRY!!"


    So that''s exactly what we did. We ran around the corner and saw lights flashing everywhere as police cars seemed to materialize out of nowhere.


    Since there were people throwing on FBI and police jackets and bullet proof vests all over the place, we did the same and joined the crowd.


    The door of the place was steel plated, but there was a ram team working on the lock. The door might have been steel, but the frame was still just wood, and they broke it down in seconds.


    I turned to wave Jane back, but she was already at the rear with her back to the building across the street. The next thing I knew, I found myself charging in along with the rest. People were peeling off in all directions, down corridors and up stairs.


    I felt myself being pulled straight down a long corridor running toward the back of the building, and I kicked in the door that I found there.


    Later, I almost wished that I hadn''t been first. The stench was overwhelming. Unwashed bodies, feces, urine, and fear. If someone ever tells you that fear doesn''t have a smell all its own, it''s just because they''ve never been scared enough. I can tell you for certain that it does, and that room was full of it.


    There were maybe a dozen girls in the room. Their ages looked to be anywhere from 15 down to 6 or so. It made me want to vomit. It still does when I think of it, so I try not to. Maybe in a year or ten I won''t remember it so clearly any more.


    As soon as I was through the door one child, maybe 8 or 9 literally threw herself on me and wrapped her arms and legs around me like a baby monkey does to its mother. She didn''t make a sound, but in my mind I heard someone shouting, "It''s about time, what the hell took ya so long!?" Then she started to cry. Vast, soundless sobs that seemed like they''d never end.


    By then several other officers had come into the room and pulled up when the stench hit them.


    When the other kids saw what had just happened, and saw other officers charge into the room, they all went crazy, jumping all over the police and FBI agents like they were oxygen being offered to people who had almost suffocated.


    I wrapped my free arm around my little monkey child, and used the other to grab the frame of the door and catapult us back down the hall toward the exit. We were followed by the sound of lots of running feet.


    We all hurried back out of the building as fast as we could. A few other kids were being escorted or carried out from other parts of the building when there was a vast WHOOSH of an explosion at the far rear of the building.


    There was a sudden babble from the people around me. "Did we get them all? Are they all out? Could there be any more? Did you find any records? Were there any of the perps inside?"


    The latter was answered as several handcuffed men, and two women(!) were dragged, not very carefully, out of the building.


    One of the girls who had been rescued was screaming, and not in fear. I''m not sure if anyone else beside me heard her, given the general noise level.


    "There are more girls, the oldest ones, locked behind a steel door at the rear of the building. They''re right where the fire is!"


    I turned my head and saw that a couple of the men in handcuffs were laughing.


    Suddenly, I realized that someone else had heard her, because Jane walked past me toward the door. Very slowly and deliberately. She was glowing again (again?), but this time everyone on the street suddenly stopped and turned toward her. She was as bright as a searchlight in the darkest night, and every eye was drawn toward her.


    What she said was whispered, but I have no doubts that everyone in the city heard her. "THIS.......MUST.....NOT......BE!"


    She raised her hands toward the sky, as if in supplication, but I realized in a moment that it was not that but rather in command. Suddenly the entire sky went dark, and incredibly heavy clouds gathered overhead. There was immense thunder for a few seconds, then everyone was blinded by what seemed like continuous lightning strikes. The thunder was...well..... I can''t describe it, so I won''t try. My brain wasn''t working on but 2 cylinders about then anyway.


    Then we were hit by the most torrential rain I''d ever heard of much less experienced. The street was 3 inches deep in water within less than a minute.


    I''d been knocked flat on my back by the blast from the wind that accompanied the rain and by the weight of the girl trying to meld herself to my chest, so I guess that I may have been the only person who was looking straight up.


    In the middle of the clouds above us there was, gods above, it couldn''t be, could it?


    Dang, it was a freaking Chinese dragon! It was silver and black and looked more than just a little angry. And the size of it! Oh my God! The body was about as long as two 747s. What was odd was that I could see through it. I''m sure about that because I could see lightning in the clouds on the other side.


    About that time someone much braver or stupider than the rest ran back into the building. 20 seconds later he was back and shouting that what had looked like a wall at the back of the building was a concealed door that the lightning had somehow blasted open and there were more children inside.


    Well, that got folks buzzing like a hornet''s nest with a stick poked inside it, and everyone who was not already dealing with a victim flew back inside. It took me a bit to get my brain back online, but when I did I saw that the police who''d been hanging onto the trash in handcuffs were in the crowd heading back inside and that the perps must have been left unattended. That was practically unimaginable. What if they got away in the confusion?


    I got back up on my feet somehow, and it took me only a couple of seconds to see why those guarding them had gone back inside along with the rest. When I looked where they had been standing, I saw that they were now trash in reality. The only things left of them were seven large piles of ash that were rapidly being washed down the street toward the river.


    Jane staggered back toward me and draped herself over my right shoulder.


    I figured that I''d better find someone to take the girl from me and then Jane and I should do a quick fade while everyone else was still busy.


    That''s what I planned to do. What really happened was quite different.


    SHE put in an appearance, so to speak, since I only heard her voice.


    "Really little one, I took all this trouble to make sure that you were here in time, and I gave you this child to care for, AND you''re trying to refuse my gift? How ungrateful can you be?"


    "Now hurry up and get out of here. Quickly now. I have a few memories to modify." She chuckled at me. "A lot people need to be Wally''d. Hmmmm. What an interesting word you invented. I think I like it. Anyway, BEGONE!"


    I found myself back at the car, well, all three of us were, so I did what I''d been told and got us all situated and seat-belted, turned the car around, and headed back to Salem.

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 15

    I pulled off at the rest stop just south of Wilsonville.  I promised Kimiko that I''d be right back.  I put my FBI jacket on her so we wouldn''t have anyone looking in the car and calling the police about the ''abused child'' and went to get some coffee and cookies.  (Blessings upon the volunteers at the rest stops.  Their coffee has saved me many a time, so I always leave a generous donation.)


    Anyway, back to the car with the cookies.  I told Kimiko that I needed to stretch my legs a bit and sauntered off.  Once I got behind the building I whipped out my cell phone.


    "Yes, that''s right Jerry, I need a complete bedroom setup, suitable for a 9 year old girl.  Yeah, pink is fine for now.  No, nothing on the walls, we''ll let her choose after she''s settled in."


    "Yes, another one.  Yes today.   In fact, you have two hours.  Yes of course I know how hard it is to get all that bought and moved that fast. That''s why I pay you the ''big bucks''.  Yes, yes, I know, very funny.


    "How tall is she? How am I supposed to know and why does it matter?  Oh, so you get the right size bed.  I see.  Ah, she''s probably just a few inches over 4 feet tall and on the slim side.  Anything else?


    "No?  OK, then hop to it!   You''re welcome, bye!"


    I know what  you''re thinking.  Maybe I''d had to shut down my private business, but that didn''t mean that I didn''t still have local contacts that I could trust to handle various things.  I was going to have Jane do some very thorough background checks on them as soon as she could though, just in case.


    (Geez Mama, sometimes you''re SO dense.  I did that as soon as I found out what that animal had been doing to you!)


    Back to the car and on the road again.  I got off at the Aurora exit and took the long way home, past the farms there, then down highway 219 through St. Paul.   Kimiko liked trees, so I was going to show her some.  Besides it was a great way to kill time.


    She had her nose welded to the window as best I could tell.  She was making those odd sounds that people make when they''re totally enraptured by something.  I''d assumed that since she couldn''t talk she couldn''t make any sounds at all.  Guess I was wrong.


    Since she seemed to be having so much fun, I decided to go the really long way and took us across the Wheatland ferry.  If I''d thought she was excited before, I''d been mistaken.  As we went across the river, she was bouncing enough to give Tigger competition.


    Jane finally woke up, probably because of the bouncing, and tapped me on the shoulder.  I looked in the mirror and she looked back with a question in her eyes.  I shook my head a bit, she nodded a bit, then we both settled down and watched Kimiko enthuse.


    We went down to highway 22, turned west, and then went down highway 51 to Independence.  Then back east over the bridge on River Road, then to Orville Road, and finally up the hill to Skyline, then south to home.


    My timing was impeccable as always.  (OK, it was just coincidental, but hey, I''ll take it when I can get it.)   Jerry was just leaving the driveway when I pulled up.   He waved me a bow from the cab of his truck and putted off down the road.


    We drove up the wide, graveled driveway.  Large branches of maple and fir trees overhung it enough that it almost looked like a green cathedral.  I glanced over at Kimiko.  She''d stopped bouncing all of a sudden, and I was more than a little concerned.  Needn''t have been.


    By the time we curved to the east on the last 200 feet of the drive, she was sitting rigidly upright, with her eyes twice normal size and her mouth open in a gigantic "O".  Her head wasn''t moving but her eyes were everywhere at once.  (Yes I know, major cliche, but, dang, it fits what she was doing perfectly.)


    Then she started in, and it didn''t seem like she was going to stop very soon either.


    "You...you...ya have rhododendrons!  And ferns!  Oh my gosh, that''s R. sinogrande, and that one is R. arboreum var. cinnamomeum.  Holy cow, that''s a Ghost fern, and a Japanese Painted fern.  And there are Arrowhead ferns EVERYWHERE!  This place is HEAVEN!"


    I knew right then that I was in trouble.  BIG trouble.  I already had a daughter who was an encyclopedia of trivia about things and people.  It looks like I now had another who was just the same but about the natural world.  I already had enough to think about.  If they both were throwing trivia at me all day, I''d never have any peace at all.


    Yes, I know.  It''s fantastic, isn''t it?


    <<Of course I know that I was just complaining a moment ago.  It''s good practice.


    One thing you don''t understand Grgur is parenting.  That''s natural being what you are, but still, I''d think you''d have learned something about it by now.


    When good parents see that their children are excited about learning, they get excited too.   But, you have to practice being long suffering.  That gives the child an incentive to go out and find some new tidbit to annoy you with.  They don''t have near as much fun if it turns out that you already know whatever offering they have for you on a given day, so they''ll naturally look up the most obscure things that they can find.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    What use is it?  Sheesh you''re so dense sometimes.


    To find it, they have to learn how to research, how to sort information, and they have to learn to organize it well, otherwise they know that you''ll just sit there looking unimpressed.  And they can''t annoy you if you''re unimpressed.   It''s perfect!


    Ah, you get it now?  Good.  Then let''s get back to the report.>>


    When we stopped, Jane and I got out of the car.  After all that had happened, we were both pretty stiff, but we managed.  Kimiko, on the other hand, ran across the parking area and started petting the plants and crooning to them.  At least I assumed that''s what she was doing.  To be frank her usual vocal efforts are more like croaks.


    I walked over to her and gathered her up in my arms and carried her inside.  She squirmed like an eel out of water, but she settled down after a few pointed comments about a lady''s hair and stench and real food coming soon after baths.


    I didn''t bother being neat.  After I kicked off my shoes, I just marched both of us into the big bathroom''s walk-in shower and turned on the water.  The clothes needed washing as much as we did, and I didn''t want them inside the washing machine until at least some of the grime and smell were gone.


    We both stripped, and I saw a body that had been at least as abused as mine had been at her age.  Once the dirt started to sluice off, I could see bruises of varying ages everywhere.  Bruises on top of bruises.


    "Are you having much pain honey?"


    "Damn but you''re short.   Did someone forget ta feed ya when ya were young?  Even for one of my people you''re definitely on the short side."


    That shook me a bit and I took a closer look at her.  Oh....yes....  She was quite obviously Japanese.  I should have known from her name I suppose.


    OK, most of the actual dirt was gone, time for the soap.


    "Just sorta push the clothes over the in the corner.  We''ll wash them later."


    "The hell I will. I''m never wearing that thing again.  I expect that I''ll have enough nightmares as it is.  I don''t need them reminding me of...things..."


    Naturally that set her crying again, so I just gathered her in my arms and held her until she''d cried herself out.


    "Kimiko honey, I have a few questions I need to ask and some I want to ask.  I''ll start with the ''need to ask'' first.  We can take care of the others later, OK?"


    "Works for me.  Shoot."


    I started washing her hair.  It was almost down to her waist, dark black, and very, very dirty.  Obviously she hadn''t followed the fad of dying her hair brown as most Japanese seem to do nowadays.  Lovely texture it had too.  I pulled myself up short and got to it.


    "So, Kimiko, ah...how is it that we can talk like this?  I mean it is handy, what with you being able to ''speak'' to me with your mouth closed.  No chance of shampoo getting in that way."


    "How the bleeping heck am I supposed ta know?  I''m a 9 years old kid, not an expert on the functioning of the human brain.  Besides, you and your partner out there are the only ones I''ve ever been able ta talk to like this.


    "My adoptive mother taught me how ta type some, and was starting to teach me how ta write.  Nobody back at the orphanage ever bothered with me, except one of the young Sisters.  She was teaching me ta read basic Japanese when I was finally adopted last year.  She was the only one who figured out that I wasn''t another one of the ''developmentally disabled'' at the home."


    Fortunately Kimiko couldn''t see me start to cry.  I was trying to wrap my mind around the idea that two people who had recently adopted her, and could hardly have known her yet, had still died trying to save her from the slavers.


    "You were adopted when you were 8 years old then?  Isn''t that a bit old? Or were you a bit older when you were orphaned?"


    "Orphaned?  Hah!  I was dumped there when I was about a year old according to the Sister, probably about the time they realized that I couldn''t talk.  In Japan they still believe in multi-generational curses.  My parents probably were told, or believed, that I had been cursed and that I needed ta be gotten rid of.  In the old days they woulda killed me.  Now they just dump unwanted kids with the Catholics.  They''ll take in anybody in need.


    "Turn around, I''ll do your hair now."


    She stamped her foot and glared at me when I didn''t move.


    "You heard me.  It''s what we do in Japan.  That and washing the other person''s back.  It''s hard ta do yer own hair properly, isn''t it?"


    What could I say? She certainly was right.  I turned around, squatted down, and let her wash my hair.  Felt sort of nice to have someone else doing it for me if you want to know the truth.


    While I was enjoying her doing my hair, something she''d said a few minutes ago popped into my head.  "You said something about my partner.  Who are you talking about?"


    "That woman out there that you call ''Jane''.  She sure as heck can''t be your kid, what with her being a tall blonde Caucasian type and you being a short, Black person."


    Hello!  Anyone home?  I fell backwards on my butt and almost knocked Kimiko over in the process.


    Jane--Caucasian.  Me--Black.  All these years I''ve been passing her off as my daughter and NOBODY ever noticed.  Not even us?  Somebody, somewhere, I didn''t know who yet, but SOMEBODY had a lot of questions to answer.


    "Ah...actually Kimiko, Jane is my daughter."


    Kimiko looked startled for a moment but then tapped her left fist in the palm of her right hand and nodded.


    "Oh, I see.  You''ve already adopted once.  No wonder ya didn''t hesitate about taking me in too.  By the way, I''m probably only gonna say this once, but...thank you.  Ya saved me, in more ways than one, and, I am grateful.  No, I think I''ll be eternally thankful that it was you who rescued me.  Ya took me from hell and brought me ta heaven.  I''ll never forget it."


    She looked like she was going to cry again, but she shook herself and straightened up.


    "Now, let''s rinse your hair.  It''s time we got out and got back ta living."


    Great, all I needed was another bossy kid, but she had given me an idea.  I probably could adopt her.  In this community, I was now a well-established parent who had successfully raised one child.  I could surely do it again.  And this time with the proper paperwork.


    I was sure that, if needed, Jane could arrange things so Kimiko could stay with us until the formalities were complete.


    Yes, we can do this.

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 16

    I wrapped us both in big bath towels, then we walked around the corner to my room to try to find something that wouldn''t be overly large.  Just this once I was willing to admit that it was sometimes a good thing that I''m not overly tall.  My things would be big on her, but they would do until we could get out and buy her some proper clothes.


    Even my t-shirts were too large, but who cares with a t-shirt?  My panties were big enough that they just fell off, so we did without and settled for my smallest pair of jeans with a belt and rolled up cuffs.


    "Hey you guys, you done yet?  Dinner''s almost ready."


    "Let''s go Kimi, I don''t know about you, but I''m pretty hungry."


    "Kimi.  KIMI!  Who said ya could call me that?   But...I don''t dislike it."


    I took her hand and led her down to the breakfast nook.   Yes, we eat almost all our meals there.


    The formal dining table mostly saw Janie and her friends hanging out on the weekends playing D&D or some other tabletop game, and in between the table was usually cluttered with something or other that they were working on.  Worked out pretty well when she was in high school.  I knew where she was at night on the weekends, and her friend''s parents knew where their kids were too.  Good for all of us.


    Don''t let the "computer revolution" fool you.  Sure kids love their computers and smartphones, but nothing is better than having your friends in the same room to talk to while you''re having fun.  (Though a few need to be taught the hard way, by dragging them away from their electronics and into the real world.  Fortunately most of them enjoy it once they''re in it.)


    Anyway Kimiko and I both hurried our steps, but she stopped cold when she saw the kitchen.


    "What''s up little one?"


    "I tell you now that I will not eat meat, in any form.  That includes fowl and seafood.  I will eat milk and cheese, and eggs, if the eggs have not been, what''s the word....oh yes, fertilized."


    "That''s not really a problem hon.  We''re gone so much at times that we don''t ever keep meat in the house.  If we get a craving, we''ll have it when we''re out at some restaurant or other."


    "That is acceptable.  One should not impose one''s dietary beliefs upon others.  I shall gladly partake of the meal which you have so graciously prepared for us."


    Then she bowed toward Jane and headed toward the table.


    Jane and I shared a smile, then we got down to the serious business of eating.  After getting banged up so much today, we needed a lot of calories to feed the healing.  Calories mostly consumed, I asked Jane to turn the TV on to channel 49 (the local Fox alternate) to check the 8 o''clock news to see if there was anything on the raid.


    As it turned out, she didn''t need to change the channel.  We found out pretty fast that EVERY local channel was running a variation on the same story and all regular network programs had been preempted.  They all showed the warehouse we''d raided from the time the door was being broken down until just after we''d left the scene.  It appeared that all the channels had had a few minutes warning of the raid and had scrambled crews to the site.


    Didn''t matter which channel.  The only thing that varied was the camera angle and the sex of the news anchor.  I had Jane mute it so we could watch the footage.  All of them had a continuous loop playing.


    I found myself easily enough.  I was the smallest person there in an FBI jacket, but you never saw anything but the clothes either going in or coming out.  That was good.  There was nothing I''d need to explain to anyone since I was just an anonymous figure.


    The next thing I knew, someone had knocked the coffee table over onto the floor and we were both gaping at the screen.  "Jane, quick, turn the sound back on!"


    What we heard was "THIS....MUST.....NOT.....BE!"  It was quite clear even though, just as I remembered, it seemed to have been whispered.  The thing that was riveting our attention was who said it.


    You and I both know who it was, it was Jane.  But it wasn''t Jane that I saw on the screen.  It was a figure about 9 feet tall with shoulder length, bright red hair, male, and holding a sword that was radiating a brilliant, bluish-white light.  He had an expression that was at the same time very stern and completely serene.  As he said those words, he pointed the sword at the door, and a bolt of light leapt from it and flew through the doorway of the building.


    Immediately there was the sound of a muffled explosion and a flash of light.  It seems that I wasn''t the only one knocked down by the concussion after all.  About half the people I saw were off their feet.  Then the rain started.


    Suddenly the camera jerked sideways, and the image was canted about 50 degrees.  Just for a moment, you could see the prisoners standing there in that torrential rain, looking like wet rats.  Then the replay went to slow motion.


    I soon saw why.  In the next two seconds, there were 7 separate bolts of lightning that came down and fried each and every one of them.  Then the image went black.  Probably burned out the CCD in the camera.


    That was, to say the least, noteworthy.  What had really freaked me out was that our superhero with the giant sword had wings on his back.  Based on how much of the building they blocked out, they were probably about 12 feet across.


    When that gal, whoever she is, "Wallys" people, she does it big time!


    Then the TV went back to the newsroom and the slightly hysterical anchor.  "We have reports from all over the city about this.  Hundreds of frightened people have called the police reporting hearing those same words.  The calls have come in from all over the metropolitan area.


    "Doppler radar showed that the gigantic thunderhead that dropped the rain appeared suddenly in a clear sky.  Measurements from multiple sites put the center of the cloud as directly over the warehouse where the raid to rescue the victims of the human trafficking happened.


    "We have contacted the National Weather Service, and their spokesman says that they currently do not have an explanation for the unusual phenomenon, and that as soon as they have something concrete to report, they will get in touch with us."


    <<The ability of government employees to use doublespeak to cover up the fact that they have no idea what is going on will never cease to amaze me.  All right, I''m not amazed at all, but you get the idea, don''t you?>>


    The anchor was still talking.  Don''t they always?


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "We have additionally contacted clergymen from multiple denominations  --  Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, LDS, and the local Hindu temple.  We have requested their comments as to whom or what the being was that appeared in front of the building is."


    "Responses have ranged from ''an instrument of divine retribution'' to ''I''ll need to consult with the archbishop regarding an appropriate response.''


    "It is perhaps most interesting of all that over half of those we spoke to, after seeing the video from the site, independently made reference to the Seven Deadly Sins when they saw the deaths of those arrested inside that building of horror."


    I had no idea how sloth or gluttony could possible apply to the situation.  Hmmm.  Now that I think of it, maybe I can.  Forget that objection.


    One enterprising reporter had somehow even managed to track down the local Hmong shaman and had scored an interview.  The shaman''s response was something to the effect that people only look at what''s in front of them and don''t ever look to the sky where that which is important lives.


    The reporter apologized for the unclear wording, since the shaman spoke through an interpreter.


    Jane and I exchanged a wordless glance and I shrugged my shoulders.  It seemed I wasn''t the only one who had seen the dragon, though probably the only one besides the shaman since the anchor never mentioned it.  That was a good thing given the circumstances.


    Just then I noticed Kimiko huddled on the floor with her back to the TV.


    I dropped to my knees and cuddled her.  "Jane, turn off the TV please."


    "Sure Mama, will do."


    "Kimi, why don''t we go down to your room and take a look?


    "My room? MY ROOM!  I have a room.  A room just for me?  How did ya do that?"


    "Do you remember the truck that was leaving the driveway when we got home?  That was my friend Jerry.  When we were at the rest stop, I called him and asked him to get some furniture into one of the spare rooms as fast as he could."


    "I know that you may not like how it looks, but at least you''ll have a bed of your own to sleep in tonight."


    "You are one VERY tricky lady!"


    Jane let out a guffaw.  I rounded on her only to see her bent over with her hand clapped over her mouth.


    "I''ll deal with you later missy!"


    "Let''s go look at your room Kimi."


    "Yes, why don''t we?"


    She looked from me to Jane and then back again.  Then she faced forward, took my hand, and marched us down the hall.


    Wow, she was fast on the uptake.  This could get very interesting in a few years.


    ----------------------


    Jerry had set her up in the room opposite mine, a very well thought out choice.  He couldn''t know the exact circumstances, but he''d obviously figured that our new family member might need some adult support nearby.


    "Is it OK if I open the door?"


    "Of course it is sweetie. It IS your room."


    She took a deep breath, and then quickly twisted the door knob and pushed the door open.  At that particular moment, I didn''t know which of us was the more astonished.  Kimiko rushed into the room, and literally got up on her toes and twirled around in circles.  All things considered, I sorta felt like doing it too.  I''m still telling myself that what stopped me was the fact that I was an adult and beyond such things.  (The real reason was, of course, that there wasn''t enough room for two twirlers at once.)


    Jerry had not just met my expectations for a fairly rudimentary bedroom setup, he''d exceeded them by at least 2 orders of magnitude.  The walls were still painted an off white, and, as instructed he''d not put anything on the walls.  But other than that he''d gone...well... yeah....


    There were two twin beds, matching dressers, and desks.  Each desk had a desktop PC on it.  Two side tables with lamps, one by each bed.  The beds were made up with white on pink bedspreads that looked like they might have taffeta on the skirts.   One of the beds was covered with clothes, all kinds of clothes, and all obviously for a fairly small person.  Jerry was definitely tricky too. He''d asked me Kimiko''s height and said it was to find the right size bed.


    I"ll get him for that later.  Right after I give him a great big hug.


    There was a note taped to the mirror over one of the dressers.  It was in Jerry''s handwriting.  ''It''s just like you to think of everything but clothes.  Given that you have no taste at all, I figured that I''d better get something before you could muck it up by picking them out yourself.   Anything that doesn''t fit, or that she doesn''t like, you can just donate to the Salvation Army.  You can probably use a good tax writeoff anyway. The receipts for everything are in the top drawer.   Jerry.


    "PS.  I expect to be paid by Monday."


    Along with the clothes were several packages of underwear in various sizes and various degrees of cuteness.  There were also a number of nightgowns and a couple sets of flannel pajamas.


    "I take it from your reaction that you find the room suitable Kimi?"


    She came down off her toes and ran over to me and hugged me, hard.  Then she ran over to Jane and repeated the hugging, then ran back to me and did it again.


    "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!  It''s WONDERFUL!"


    Then she astonished me once again by doing a back handspring onto the bed that didn''t have clothes on it and started bouncing.  Gods above, it was Tigger all over, but this time Tigger on steroids!


    I heard more giggling and turned to see Jane with both hands over her mouth now.  I glared at her and she started giggling louder.  CHILDREN!


    She put her hands down and then I saw her fingers start to twitch.  I couldn''t figure out why for a while, then I got it.  (Very tired, thunder and lightning and all that, so I was a bit slow at the time.)


    Jane''s other hobby, besides using her computer to amass vast quantities of other people''s money, was very girly. She was a doll collector.  Usually antique style with fancy clothes, but all very tasteful and all very pretty.


    Kimiko had stopped bouncing and was looking rather intently at the clothes.  I suddenly realized that I was in trouble, and there was no way out of it.  There was about to be a fashion show featuring Jane as the designer and Kimiko as the model.


    Neither one would forgive me if I begged off with ANY kind of excuse, so I just pulled up a chair and vowed not to show any signs of boredom no matter how much of this I was forced to endure.


    <<NO!  I will not admit that I was looking forward to it too.  NOT GONNA HAPPEN!>>


    First they took the underwear, tore open the packages, and threw all the packing material in a corner of the room.  Then they started chatting about which looked best and the materials and how they fit.  Kimi tried on every single set, except the ones that were obviously too small.


    Once they''d decided on what she''d wear under her clothes for the rest of the show, they started in on the outer wear.  That took another hour and a half.


    By then it was close to 11 p.m., and I decided to call a halt.


    "OK ladies. Bedtime and then some.  Kimi, pick out a nightgown that you like and put it on.  Then it''s time to brush your teeth."


    Jerry had even thought of toothbrushes and toothpaste. There were several of each on one of the dressers.


    Kimi and Jane had a brief conversation to which I was not privy. (Useful information that.  Kimiko could focus her thoughts on just one person.) Then they both laughed.  (Well, Jane laughed and Kimi had a big smile on her face.)  She slipped on one of the nightgowns and followed me across the hall to my bathroom.


    Mutual tooth brushing and primping before bed.  Then Kimiko declared, "Jane calls ya ''Mama''.  That''s silly.  Nobody does that any more.  Isn''t it embarrassing?"


    "I''ve never thought about it, but you''re right. It is sort of old-fashioned, isn''t it?"


    She nodded at me as if she''d won a point in some obscure game.


    "But, she''s called me that since she was four years old, and we''re both used to it.  Besides, I rather like it."


    Kimi took a thinking pose then nodded her head.  "You''re right.  It is rather old-fashioned, but I think I like it too."


    "Mama, may I, just for tonight, sleep with you?  I don''t think I''ll sleep at all if I''m alone.  Please?"


    "Sure thing honey, let''s go get some Z''s."


    "Mama, ya sure talk funny sometimes."


    She ran back out into the bedroom, jumped on the bed, and bounced, once.  She pulled back the covers and waited for me to climb in with her and turn out the light.   Then she squirmed her way up against me, with her back to my chest and was asleep before I could ask her if she was warm enough.  Seemed like a good idea so I went to sleep too.  Tomorrow would be soon enough to deal with the fallout from the events of today.

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 17

    Coffee.  Sweet, sweet, coffee. Floating in a sea of wonderful, delicious coffee. Coff...


    I sat up suddenly and noticed two things immediately.  There really was a most enticing aroma of coffee floating through my room, and it was 19 minutes after seven.  I''d overslept by almost an hour.  But then, given yesterday, I had deserved to sleep in.


    I stretched and was bumped by something wiggling under the covers.  It looked like one of the cats had decided to keep me company sometime during the night.  I pulled the covers back and saw a small person next to me.  My mind went blank for a few seconds, then I remembered.  KIMIKO!


    She was lying on her side, facing away from me and there were two of the cats curled up against her chest and thighs.


    I stroked her cheek and then each of the cats. (Cats get pretty jealous if the affection isn''t divided evenly -- fair warning.)


    Two sets of eye appeared briefly and appeared to be contemplating me, then they disappeared, and all I could see was two piles of fur.  They looked like nothing so much as hairy dust rags.


    With that cheery thought I leapt out of bed.  (All right, all right, I carefully extracted myself.  If I''d leapt I''d have landed on my face.)


    <<What?  How can a 7th dan in Hapkido be clutzy?  I don''t know either.  It''s one of life''s inscrutable mysteries.>>


    I wrapped a robe around myself and, carefully, walked down the hall.  I could hear the television.  It sounded like the news was on.


    Jane waved a hand full of toast at me and said, "Hi Mama.  It''s going crazy out there."


    "How so sweetie?"  Grabbed a mug of coffee, snagged a piece of toast for myself, and turned to look at the TV.


    There wasn''t much to see, unless you count multiple, sequential images of gigantic crowds, apparently from all over the world since in each scene the clothing and skin color tended to vary.


    Jane put on her professorial face and started ticking things off on her fingers.


    "1) The Muslim radicals are claiming that the events yesterday prove that the Americans are godless infidels.


    "2) The Muslim moderates are claiming that the radicals are idiots who couldn''t see the obvious working of the hand of God unless HE smacked them with it.  They also said that, the way the radicals treat their women, they should be looking over their own shoulders instead of pointing fingers.


    "3) The Pope has asked for a day of fasting and prayer in support of all the helpless victims of the world.


    "4) Police all over the world are reporting that known criminals as well as people they had no prior knowledge of have been turning in guns, knives, and drugs and are on their knees crying for forgiveness.  There are nowhere near enough cells left to put them in, so the police are telling them to take themselves off to the local church/temple/mosque and make their repentance to the clergy.  They ARE encouraging them to leave the weapons and drugs at the police stations though."


    She bent down her last finger as she ticked off number 5.


    "Incidents of pickpocketing and bank robbery have gone through the roof all over the world."


    I laughed, and not with amusement.  "I recall that in the old days in England pickpockets came out in force when crowds gathered to see other thieves executed."  I shook my head and sat down to have my breakfast.


    I''d barely had my second gulp of coffee when my head nearly exploded again.


    "Mama, mama, MAMA!! Where ARE you?  Don''t leave me alone again!!!"


    I tore down the hall like a rocket, skidded around the corner, and ran into my bedroom.  (Rather surprisingly I didn''t trip even once.  I need to think about that, later.)


    I was hit by a living projectile that launched itself off the bed and then proceeded to wrap all 12 arms and legs around me.


    I ''whoofed'' and barely managed not to be knocked over.  Primarily because I fell back into a wall.


    "Mama, I thought ya''d gone away.  Don''t ever do that to me again, do ya HEAR me?!"


    Dang but she could be imperious.


    "And what the heck are those things on the bed?"


    She pointed and I looked.  Then I laughed.


    "Those are cats honey.  Haven''t you ever see a cat before?"


    "Of course I have, but everyone knows that cats have 4 legs, heads, eyes, things like that.  Those are just round balls of, something or other."


    She gasped and gave me a look of wonder.  "Are they tribbles?!"


    Have you ever tried to laugh while a child was wrapped around you and strangling you?  It''s an interesting experience but one that I don''t recommend that you try at home.


    "Is it OK if I put you down now?"


    She nodded, so I did, then I walked over to the bed and sat down.  I started petting Mrrrrr and a head popped up.  She stood up and stretched in that lovely way that I wish I could do, and then she moved closer to me and butted me with her head so I''d keep petting.


    Kimi huffed at me, "Well, ya could have warned me ya know."


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Then, very sweetly, she whispered, "Do ya think it will let me pet it?"


    I nodded and she came over and sat down beside me, carefully.  Then she gingerly began to pet Mrrrrr.  (Yes, 5 r''s.  It''s as close as we could get to the sound she makes when she "talks" to us.)


    That was when Tigger woke up and came over to demand some attention of his own.  Kimiko obliged both of them.


    My but she had a sweet smile.  And what a complicated child she was.  Hard as nails at times (and with quite a mouth on her), then in a flash she''d change into a little girl again.


    When it became apparent that she''d be quite happy to sit there all day petting the cats, I took her hand and led her across the hall to her bedroom to get a robe.  Then we went back to have our interrupted breakfast.  That was when I realized that when Kimiko had screamed, I''d just dropped what I was doing and took off.


    What I''d dropped was my toast and coffee.  Then I realized that I hadn''t heard the mug hit the floor.  Oh, right.  Jane must have caught it.  Jane had caught it?  She''s been on the other side of the counter from where I was. How did she....?


    What happened when we we got back to the kitchen was that Jane smiled at us.


    Naturally we smiled back.  Everyone smiles back at Jane.  She asked Kimiko, "Would you like toast and orange juice?  We have strawberry jam for the toast -- it''s homemade."


    "Yes please.  But what is ''strawberry jam''?"


    Jane looked a bit puzzled but she held up the jar to show Kimi.


    Kimiko clapped her hands together and started jumping up and down.


    "Oh!! Ichigo jamu. Daisuki desu. Sugoi, sugoi!"


    Jane got a bigger smile and said, "Sou desuka.  Ureshii."


    Kimiko started bouncing high enough that I wondered if she had pogo sticks built into her legs.


    "Nihongo!  Subarashii!!!"


    Time for me to butt in.   "Kimiko honey.  Just how much English do you know?  You mentioned that your adoptive mother was teaching you to read.  How far did you get?  You obviously know a fair amount about plants and their English names."


    "My adoptive parents were, probably, a bit...odd.  We lived in the countryside in northern Idaho near the Washington border.  My mother was a more than fanatic (fanatic?  Is that the right word?  Yes, fanatic.) gardener.  She was, however, a not very good teacher.  She spent most of her time outdoors, so I followed her around.  She pointed out all the plants, told me their names, and how ta grow them.


    "There aren''t many open areas with plants in Asakusa.  That''s where the orphanage I was in is.   Asakusa''s a huge tourist trap, what with that gigantic temple ta Kanon there, and the residential areas around it are pretty cramped.


    "My adoptive mother''s garden was like being in heaven, so I didn''t mind so much that she wasn''t very good when it came ta teaching me formally."


    Kimiko took a deep breath and sighed.  "I really loved her garden."


    "My new father was mostly a fan of the game you call here ''football''.  When he wasn''t working at his computer, or yelling at people on the phone, he was watching sports on TV.


    "I learned just enough from my new mother ta be able ta start reading the children''s books she had bought for me.  So when I wasn''t outside with her in the garden I''d work at reading English.  I''m probably only reading at about a 7th grade level though.  At least that''s what it said on the books.  I''m so sorry that I didn''t do better."


    Amidst being astonished, I managed to pick her up and swing her around in circles.  "That''s fantastic honey!  You''re four years ahead of most children your age."


    "I am? I don''t understand.  The books she had for me were labeled as for up to grade 12.  They had hundreds of other books, all over the walls of almost every room.  I thought that you had ta get to a grade 12 level before ya could start ta read real books."


    I was at a loss as to how to explain things but, fortunately, Jane knew what to do and she stepped in.


    She knelt down and put her hands on Kimiko''s shoulders.   "Sweetheart, 7th grade here is the same as chuugaku ichinensei."


    Kimiko''s hands went to her cheeks and her mouth made a big "O".


    "Ah, well, I see.  I guess, maybe, I must be pretty smart then?"


    We both put our arms around her, and we had a group hug.  Then I took her shoulders and shook her a little.  "Yes Kimiko.  You''re pretty smart."


    "Oh, well, of course I am!" she declared arrogantly.  She backed up and looked at us to see how we''d respond.  Then she dropped her chin and stared at the floor.  "It''s just that after being called a ''retard'' my whole life, and even being treated like one by my adoptive parents, I really wasn''t completely sure."


    I reached for the closest kleenex box and we all had a brief cry.


    Jane surfaced first, and asked what Kimiko might have considered a totally irrelevant question. "Uh, Kimiko, do you know how to type?"


    "Not really well. I was just starting ta learn when....when....you know."


    I was startled by the gleeful look that suddenly appeared on Jane''s face.


    "We need to get that fixed, immediately.  As soon as we finish breakfast, we''ll go down to your room and get you set up with a good touch typing program.  I''ll make sure that it''s one that''s a game so you can have fun while you''re doing it.


    "Let me see.  We''re going to have to get you a good tablet as well, one with a long battery life and bright display, probably one of the Acer Iconias, so you can type what you need to say at school and not have to recharge the batteries during the day.


    "The teachers won''t like it if it makes the usual click when you hit each letter, so I''ll have to turn that off.  Then..."


    By now Jane was staring unseeingly at the ceiling.


    "Whatever is wrong with her?  Is she always like this?"


    "You can''t even imagine."  This time I got to roll my eyes for a change.


    Kimiko huffed.  Then she looked at me with astonishment on her face.


    "Wait a minute!  She said ''school''.  Someone like me can go ta school here?"


    "Of course you can sweetheart.  In fact, you have to. It''s the law here."


    "But how?  I mean I can''t talk ta the teacher or the other kids. I was barely learning cursive writing.  My handwriting is still awful!"


    I laughed again.  "Sweetling, they hardly teach cursive anymore, unless someone is interested in calligraphy.  You just learn to print neatly, and then everyone types everything else.  That''s why Jane wants you to have a tablet computer.  You can type what you want to say to the other kids, or even send emails to their phones."


    Kimiko suddenly looked gleeful.  Oh, of course, she''d probably seen every kid she knew back in Japan texting all the time.  I expect that I should have known.  If anyone in the entire world lived by the smartphone it was the Japanese.  Most don''t have computers, they just use their phones.


    " But you''re not supposed to do that during class.  Do you hear me?"


    "Yes Mama, I hear you."


    She dropped her chin again and looked up at me and batted her eyelashes at me.  She ''heard'' me.  She didn''t say that she''d obey.


    I don''t know if I can survive raising another child like Jane.

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 18

    "OK, getting back to our primary situation then. I suppose that the first thing we should do is run through what each of us saw. I have a pretty strong feeling that we didn''t see the same things in the same way."


    I went first and told Jane about everything that I''d seen and heard, starting with when we got out of the car. I shared my surprise at Kimiko''s first words to me, "What took you so long?" Then I went through what Jane had done and said when she heard about the fire and the locked door at the back of the building. I ended up with the dragon and the piles of ash.


    That got her attention, and she turned a bit ashen herself when she heard it. She didn''t say anything about it yet though. Instead she soldiered on and told me what she''d experienced, starting from the same place.


    Not surprisingly there were a few discrepancies.


    She had no clear memory of saying anything at all, just that she''d felt uncontrollably angry when those two male prisoners had said whatever it was that had amused them so much. Unlike me, she had heard what they said. It was: "Looks like they didn''t find the hidden door. There''s gonna be some fried enchiladas in there along with the ashes."


    "Then Mama, one of the women leaned over and whispered something about being charged with murder. Next one of the men said, ''What murder? We were sitting in our office, getting our vegetable inventory straightened out, when those well-meaning but terribly mistaken officers burst in and arrested us. We had absolutely no idea of what was going on in the other part of the building. Shocking, just shocking!''"


    "That was when they laughed Mama. I don''t remember anything after that until I found myself leaning on you."


    She also didn''t remember getting back to the car. (Actually, neither do I now that I think of it.) From there she said that she was asleep until she felt the car shaking when we were on the ferry.


    "I wonder why the car was shaking so much. Do you know Mama?"


    I almost did a spit-take with the juice I was sipping. "It''s a little hard to explain Janie. Let''s go into that later. It wasn''t anything of any importance."


    I contrived to look innocent, but I think that the smile on my face gave me away. Jane hit me with one of her trademark "I''ll get to the bottom of this eventually" looks, then got back to the subject at hand.


    She started with some rapid fire questions.


    "How big did you say the dragon was? What part of it was which color? Stripes, bands? Scales of one color outlined in the other, or distinct colors like on the dragon in your tapestry? You said you could see through it?"


    "It looked to be about 150 meters long! The body was silver. The toes, mane, and whiskers were black. Yes, I could see through it."


    Jane continued with a number of other questions. After a few minutes, she finished up with: "European dragon or Chinese?"


    "Why does that matter?"


    She sighed at me again. "Mama, please just answer the question."


    "OK, OK. It was a Chinese dragon. So what?"


    "European dragons are associated primarily with destruction of various kinds. They''re not known to have power over the weather, but I wanted to be sure.


    "Chinese dragons are mostly all associated with natural forces. All of them are associated with rain, but...."


    Jane started to chew on a lock of her hair as she thought.


    "Hmmm. Mama, did you by any chance see anything else moving around under or just inside the clouds?"


    Thwacked myself on the forehead with my palm. OW! I should have remembered from the last time. What an idiot!


    "Yes. I did.... I''d completely forgotten about it. It didn''t seem particularly important. It was moving very fast and was only about...oh....maybe 10 meters long. And, no, I don''t remember anything else about it. I was sorta distracted by that gigantic dragon at the time."


    More hair nibbling, fairly intensive this time. If she kept it up, she was going to need to have it trimmed.


    "I remember now. Silver dragons are considered Yin. For our purposes we''ll just say that Yin represents the female forces of nature. They are associated with the moon, trust, wisdom, and female warriors."


    "The reason you could see through the dragon is because it wasn''t really there. It was an illusion."


    "Watcha talkin bout Willis?"


    "Oh god, no. Please. No stupid lines from ancient TV shows right now. OK Mama?"


    "Oh, all right..." And here I thought it was perfectly appropriate. Jane just had no sense of humor sometimes.


    Another stern look, then she let it go and smiled at me. "All right, it was sorta cute, but this is serious.


    "OK, here''s the skinny. Dragons come in a range of sizes. Some as are small as six or seven meters long, and a very few are up to 30 meters, and those have heads about the size of your body....well of my body anyway."


    I glared, she said, "Gotcha!" Then she bounced a couple of times and got back to business.


    "So 10 meters is a somewhat smallish dragon. However, this one is obviously very powerful, being able to call up a very focal, but very powerful storm that fast. Not to mention some very potent, pinpoint lightning strikes."


    "You said nothing about thunder except BEFORE the lightning. That many bolts of lightning hitting all at once should have blown out every window in a 2 or 3 block radius. Did that happen?"


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    "No.....there wasn''t a single broken window. And I didn''t hear anything either. There was just this amazing light show and then those piles of ashes."


    "Hmmmm...... perfect control of all the energy strikes and no sound. All right, that must be it. That dragon had to be Gin-long. I find it interesting that it''s the only dragon with a name that combines Japanese and Chinese. ''Gin'' is ''silver'' in Japanese, and ''long'' is ''dragon'' in Chinese."


    "That one is a 4-toed dragon. You know about the meaning of the toes Mama?"


    "Ah, actually, I haven''t a clue."


    Jane threw her hands up in the air in a "what can you do when your parent is hopeless but you love them anyway" gesture.


    <<Yes, you can convey all that with a single gesture. You just have to be alert and know what to watch for.>>


    "OK. Look. Three toes are female and are usually, though not always, the smallest dragons. Five toes are the males. Usually the largest, never the smallest. Four toes are neuter and are intermediate in size. They''re usually the scholars and the ones with the most precise control of their powers. It''s probably because they don''t have hormones messing with their heads.


    "That doesn''t mean without egos though. Gin-long has always felt a bit inferior about being one of the smallest neuters, which is probably why it projected that ridiculously large illusion of itself.


    Then the oddest thing happened. Jane''s posture changed to more of a sprawl, and her voice deepened.


    "Dae ye ken?


    "The neuters are also the ones most involved with child-rearing and every one of them absolutely adores children! And they''re verra verra protective of the wee bairns. When you add in the fact that they can literally hear a pin drop a mile away, and given what those trash said about the children still inside the building....


    "Well, anyway, that''s why there was nae danger for anyone else outside. There were children all over the street. Gin-long, the darlin'', would take no chances of harming them. Everyone did get drookit, but that''s a small price to pay for the rescue and getting rid o'' those gingin craws.


    "And that''s why there was no thunder. That wasn''t really lighting, just some tightly focused energy work"


    I was barely getting all of this. Mostly I was listening to Jane''s voice bouncing back and forth from her usual soprano to what sounded very like a male tenor.


    Next I wondered why she was talking as if she knew this particular dragon.


    "Ah, Jane, where did you find out all of this about the dragons?"


    She looked puzzled for a second and then said, "Oh, I read about them some time ago on the internet. That''s why it took me a while to recall it all. I don''t remember exactly when. Good thing I did though, isn''t it?"


    "Yeah, sure. I mean, yes. It''s a very good thing you did."


    <<Not again. Tell me that it wasn''t happening again. I''m not sure that I can deal with this. Are you SURE that you won''t give me a hint?


    Bah. You''re no help.>>


    "OK, we have that part sorted out," Jane said briskly.


    "Now let''s move on to the part about you hearing voices."


    "Not voices, a voice. Female. Considering what we saw on the TV, as compared to what we know that you did, I''d say that we have no choice but to accept that "She" is real."


    "True Mama. That then, quite logically, leads to the question: ''Who or what IS she? That''s the problem, isn''t it? We have absolutely no data to go on that would allow us to pursue that particular question.


    "However, we can assume, with fair certainty, several things about what she can do.


    "1) She is capable of speaking mentally to you. We certainly know that Kimiko can do that. We can also be quite certain that Kimiko is not the being who did this.


    "2) She can alter the perception of a number of people at once. We know that because everyone we saw interviewed described the same thing.


    "3) Either due to lack of capability, lack of time, or -- possibly -- lack of understanding, she gave everyone the exact same memories. People don''t work that way. Everyone who sees something sees it slightly differently based on their past experiences. There should have been a number of small differences in their descriptions, even if it was just because people were standing in different places.


    "4) She can also affect recording media. She didn''t make any mistakes there though. The illusion created looked different from various camera angles.


    "5) She was either working together with the dragon or she saw what it was doing and arranged things so that the dragon remained undiscovered by providing something on the ground that explained the events that transpired.


    "Can you think of anything else Mama?"


    I rubbed my head. "No honey, that seems to hit all the crucial points.


    That''s when the lightbulb lit up. I really, REALLY didn''t want to go there, but, given the situation, there wasn''t much choice.


    "Jane. I think we''re doing the best we can here to avoid addressing the REAL question."


    "What do you mean Mama, I think we''re doing a pretty good job of analyzing things."


    I shook my head. I could understand why she didn''t want to think about it, but sometimes you have to just bite the bullet and dive into painful things.


    "Jane. I love you very, very much, but I guess I''m going to have to figuratively smack you upside the head with a two by four. Listen sweetie. Don''t think, just focus on what I say and LISTEN.


    "What have we been talking about? We''re doing a very human thing, sitting and talking and analyzing, trying to make things fit our preconceived notions. But let''s be real, shall we?


    "We''re going to have to accept that what we''ve thought was real for all of our lives is only part, and maybe only a small part, of what is real."


    "What the flaming heck are you talking about Mama? You aren''t making any sense at all!"


    I put my glass down and walked over to her and hugged her gently. "Jane. Think. Think really, really hard. We''re talking about dragons. They really DO exist. I don''t think we''re in Kansas anymore. Whatever world we''re in is a whole lot different from what most other people live in. It''s frightening but exciting at the same time.


    "We''re also talking about disembodied voices that can affect people''s minds and our recording media."


    Then something else popped into my mind, "And maybe, just maybe, move things from one place to another without moving through the intervening space...."


    This time it was Jane''s turn to say; "Huh?"


    "Honey, neither of us remembers going from the street to the car. We just found ourselves there. How did we get there? Right now, I don''t have an answer."


    "Oh......"


    "I think I need to show you something. Do you remember when I ''quizzed'' you about the dragon in my room? And then how I ignored you when you noticed that it had changed?


    "I think that we ought to go have another look at it, right now. I can''t say why, but I think that it might be a good idea."


    "I have an idea that you''re right Mama. Let''s go."


    So we did. Down the hall, around the corner, and into my room. And there it was. The same as always -- not.


    The claws on the left forefoot were now all gold, all five of them. I had no idea when it sprouted the last one. The toes and the wrist were a deep, ebony black. The claws on the right forefoot were all gold now too, and there was just a tiny border of black on the toes at the base of the claws.


    "Oh boy...... And another mystery rears its head. Or rather, I guess it''s time to think about it."


    "Mama. When did you first notice a change?"


    "Ummm about a month ago."


    "And how many times has it changed?"


    "Counting today, 3 times."


    "Well it seems to me that the the most likely thing is that it''s some sort of "heads up" message. A warning that there''s about to be some change in your life."


    Jane chuckled again. "Considering what we''ve just been through, I think that we can consider that hypothesis as proven."


    She took a deep breath and relaxed. So did I, for a moment.


    "Ah. Well.... Jane...sweetie? I have just one, little question for you then."


    "Oh, what''s that Mama?"


    "If your hypothesis is correct, and the changes are sort of a warning of things to come, wouldn''t the fact that it just changed again today mean that something more is heading our way? And wouldn''t the fact that this change is bigger than the others mean that whatever is coming next is also going to be bigger?"


    She looked at me. I looked at her. Then we both let out our patented, battle cry: "OH SHIT!!!"

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 19

    Kimiko came tumbling out of her room.  "What shit?  Where see shit?"


    I glanced into her room and saw that she''d been watching Short Circuit on her computer.  Dang, we had another movie buff in the family.  Isn''t it great?


    "Hi Kimi.  Did you finish your typing drill already?"


    She gave me a disgusted look.  I don''t know if she was picking up sarcasm from us already, or it was part of the innate nature of people that gathered around me.


    She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair and grumbled, "I finished that over an hour ago.  I came out ta tell ya, but you and Jane onee-chan were busy hugging at the time, so I came back here and started watching the movie.  Number 5 is cute."


    "I heard part of it.  What ya were talking about I mean.  What''s the big thing about dragons and The Lady?  Well, other than the fact that she''s the only other person who can talk ta me in my head like I do with you."


    Kimiko suddenly looked a bit wild-eyed and started to back up.


    "Mama, you''re scaring me.  Why are you and Jane onee-chan looking at me like cats do when they are about ta jump on a mouse?"


    I glanced over at Jane and she glanced at me.  We were both slightly crouched with our hands extended a bit in front of us, with our fingers bent like they had claws at the end of them.   No wonder Kimi was scared.


    I dropped to my knees, hugged her and said, "Sorry sweetheart.  We were just a bit startled.  Why are you calling her ''The Lady''?"


    "Well, because she is, silly.  She started talking ta me a little while before ya came ta get me.  She said that someone would come ta take me home real soon.  It seemed like a long time ta me though.  That''s why I asked ya why it took ya so long to come get me when I first saw you.  I didn''t really believe her at first because I knew that I couldn''t go home.  My new mama and papa were dead."


    She snuffled a bit at that, but didn''t take the tissue I offered her.


    Jane and I exchanged one of those ''significant looks'' that you always see in the cop dramas when the leads finally notice that something is going on that they didn''t know about.


    "That''s why I started crying when you said that ya really meant that we were going home.  That''s when I knew that The Lady hadn''t lied to me.  She didn''t mean that someone would take me back ta my old home.  She meant that someone would come ta take me ta my NEW home."


    We both asked her a couple more questions, in different ways, about why Kimiko called her "The Lady" but the only answer was still the first one.  "Because she is."


    "OK sweetie, you can go back to your movie, but in (I checked my watch) 16 minutes you and I have an appointment for your first lesson."


    Kimiko bounced her way back to her desk, and Jane and I decided to give things a break to let our brains settle.


    We both went to our workrooms. Her to do something about getting Kimi''s tablet ordered, and me to add some quick touches to one of the paintings I''d started on our camping trip.


    One thing had become abundantly obvious.  It was time for us to decide whether we were going to stay bystanders or gather our courage and go out on the floor and learn to dance.


    -------------------


    "OK Kimiko, stop for a minute.  I want you to practice with Jane for a bit.  You need to work out with someone taller than yourself as often as you can."


    "But Mama, she''s so big.  How could I do anything against her."


    I hit the intercom: "Jane, there''s something I need you to see and something for you to do.  Come on in as soon as you''re ready."


    "OK Mama, on my way."


    "Just sit and rest for now Kimi, she''ll be here soon."


    Kimiko dropped bonelessly, in the way only children and cats can manage.  A minute later Jane came in, just finishing knotting her practice belt.


    "Kimiko honey, go ahead and show Jane those basic kicks and jumps I was showing you."


    "If I have to Mama. I can''t do them very well yet."


    I laughed.  I never have figured out why novices all seem to think that they should be experts after 30 minutes of practice.


    "Of course you can''t silly. You just started learning them a little while ago.  Go ahead and do them. I want Jane to see where you are.  She''s going to be teaching you some of the time too."


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "Why didn''t ya say so right away? Learning with Jane onee-chan is gonna be a lotta fun!"


    She started with a short run then did several jumping kicks. She followed those with several cartwheels, 5 or 6 back handsprings, and ended up with a full back layout.


    "Is that OK Mama?  Jane onee-chan?"


    Jane answered for us both.  "Yes Kimi, you did very well for a beginner.  I see what we need to do for your early training now.  Go ahead and take a shower and change, then we''ll see about lunch."


    "Hirugohan!  Yippee! (Is that the right word?)"


    "Yes Kimi, that''s right. Go ahead."


    She bounded off down the hall and I turned to Jane.


    "Whatever are we going to about training her?  She seems to be terrified of hurting other people.  She couldn''t even throw a pretend punch.  I don''t think she has even a tiny bit of talent for the offensive martial arts, but she''s probably the most talented gymnast I''ve seen in my entire life."


    "I''ve got to agree with you Mama.  When she was upside down during that back layout, the top of her head was level with mine, so almost two meters.  That''s as high, or higher than the girls at the Olympics get, and they have a bit of a boost from the springs under the floor."


    I pondered for a while, and then it came to me.


    "Oh, I know Jane.  Let''s teach her as many of the evasive techniques as she can handle.  Then she needs instruction in  Aikido.  I''m sure that she''ll enjoy that since Aikido isn''t an offensive art.  If we explain that Aikido is focused on stopping people from being hurt, it should work out.


    "Master Oh should know someone in the area who''s a competent teacher."


    "That sounds like a good place to start Mama.  The other thing she needs is a good gymnastics instructor, but how are we going to find one that will teach her and not try to dragoon her into competitions?


    Jane cocked her head to the side for a moment, then her face got the "light going on" look.


    "Hey wait a minute Mama. I have an idea.  It''s going to sound strange, but how about we find someone who''s an expert at Parkour?  It''s not designed that way, but it''d be a great defensive art.  Nobody is going to be able to hurt you if you''ve learned how to run up the sides of buildings."


    "Damn but I think that''d work just fine Janie.  Once the guys see how she can bounce around, I''ll bet anything that they''ll be gaga over a little girl who''s interested in what they do.  Sorta like a certain group of men who were just the same about another little girl who wanted to take up fly fishing."


    Jane punched me in the arm, but she had a very happy, nostalgic look on her face.


    ---------------------------


    Later that day Jane had a conference with Mr. Forsythe, with the discussion focusing primarily on the fallout from the raid.  Her report was very interesting.


    "On the good side, it seems likely that everything from the various Mafia organizations to the triads in Hong Kong have taken serious, though likely short-term, damage from so many members suddenly getting religion.  It seems likely that 80 to 90% were low level flunkies that can be replaced fairly easily, but any new people will need training in procedures, and that will take months for some of them.  There will also likely be heavy investigation of most of the new ''employees'' as this has created a perfect opportunity for various police agencies to get new undercover operatives inside the operations.


    "Be that as it may, it''s highly likely that the police agencies will take the long view and only send in people who will be ''sleepers''.  There won''t be as many as they''d like, of course, because that kind of agent needs to be both highly trained and dedicated.  Otherwise their survival outlook is pretty bleak.


    "Now we come to us.  Of course I haven''t told him anything about what really happened at our end.  It''s unlikely that he''d have believed me, and, even if he did, there''s no way in the world that the bureaucrats would.  Worse, we''d be written off as nut jobs and cut off, if not locked up to prevent leaks.


    "After I told him what I felt I could tell him, he''s decided that we''re to lay low for a few weeks, at least.  Given the current uproar, there simply aren''t any agents with any of the intelligence agencies that aren''t swamped.  There''s no way for them to even think about new operations for us until things calm down.


    "So, we''re free to take a break.  Which I think will mean getting Kimiko lined up with her trainers, and into a program to push her with her English lessons and fill her in on American customs.


    "It will also give me time to get a complete security system installed in her elementary school."


    Jane put her chin on the top of her fist and stared off into the distance.


    "I''ll start with the school board I think.  I''ll go there and offer a free installation, to serve as a sort of test bed for the new technology we''re going to roll out to make schools safer from attacks.


    "If I dangle the word ''free'', and tell them what good publicity it will get for the school district  -- you know, making strong efforts to be on the cutting edge of protecting students -- they''ll probably beg me to install it.


    "The icing on the cake will be an offer to install the system at any other school in this district at a 50% discount once we get all the bugs out of this one.


    "The teacher''s union is likely to have a cow though.  They''ll scream bloody murder, claiming that it''s a ''big brother'' method of monitoring them so they can be fired more easily.  But...I think that if I make it clear that all cameras in classrooms will show only the students and that there won''t be any audio feed, there won''t be any major problems.


    "If that doesn''t work, I''ll offer to let their reps review any recordings, and I''ll make sure that they know that everything will automatically be erased after 24 hours, and I''ll let them verify that too if they insist.


    "It shouldn''t be any problem at all to have Kimiko''s school selected.  I''ll just insist that it be the elementary school closest to home to make it easy for me to get there to fix things when glitches appear.


    "Do you see anything that I''ve missed Mama?"


    "Doesn''t look like it right now.  I''m sure something will come up, it always does, doesn''t it?  Remember: ''Murphy was an optimist.''


    "OK. you go and get that started Janie. I''m going to look up some info on adoption procedures in Oregon.  Let''s get together tomorrow morning and share what we''ve come up with."


    "That works for me Mama.  I''m sure it''ll take at least a week to get the school setup approved.  It depends on whether or not I''ll have to do any arm twisting."


    I REALLY didn''t want to know what kind of arm twisting she had in mind, so I just nodded and went off to start my research.

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 20

    The next morning Jane and I were talking about nothing in particular when Kimiko came down the hall, holding her new favorite stuffed toy, the pig-rabbit.  (Yes, you can buy them on Amazon.  I have no idea how Jerry got one so fast though.)


    She knuckled the sleep out of her eyes with her free hand.  Then she said, "I''m hungry.  I need breakfast, right now!"


    "You WHAT?  Would you like to try saying that again missy?"


    "Uh....oops.....sorry.  May I please have some breakfast Jane nee-chan?  Ah.  I really AM sorry. I was still mostly asleep I guess."


    Jane got her set up with some juice to start.  We petted her a bit to let her know that we weren''t still angry with her, but I did emphasize that children should not be making demands.  She seemed to understand just fine.


    Then there was a noise down the hallway that sounded like shuffling feet.  Seeing as how there should be only 3 pair of feet in the building, Jane and I snapped our attention to the hall and went into defensive crouches.


    A few seconds there was the sound of a coffee mug shattering on the floor of the kitchen.  Yes, I know that Jane caught my mug last time -- I still don''t know how -- but it requires your attention to do something like that.  Her mug shattered about a half second after mine.


    While we were both standing there slack-jawed, Kimiko came out of the hall carrying her large brown teddy bear.


    She bowed to both of us and asked: "May I please have some breakfast Okaa-san, Jane onee-san?  Did I say that right?  English is fairly difficult for me.  I have not had much...ah..pr...pra...practice."


    OK... Sure.  Looked to my left.   I saw Kimiko sitting at the breakfast bar slurping down her juice.  Looked to my right.  I saw Kimiko standing at the opening to the hallway.  Looked at Jane.  Looked at Jane looking at Kimiko and Kimiko.


    Well, if it was a hallucination, at least I was sharing it with someone.


    "Kumiko, get over here and get something ta eat.  They don''t bite, ya dummy!"


    "I did not think that they did onee-san.  I merely wished to give them some time to adjust to my presence."


    Jane and I turned our heads back toward Kimiko as if we were both marionettes on the same string.  "Did you say Kumiko?"


    "Ya don''t have the excuse of saying that ya didn''t hear me, because we all know that ya always hear exactly what I think at ya.  And while you''re at it, are ya going to clean up the mess you just made?  I don''t want Kumiko ta cut her feet on the glass."


    Kumiko bowed slightly toward her sister.  "Thank you for your consideration onee-san.  I would not wish to get blood on the floor when I have just arrived."


    Kimiko was back to her usual imperious self.  "You heard her. Get with it!"


    We got.  It took only a minute to clean up the mess.


    "Thank you.  I appreciate your efforts."  Kumiko looked at her sister with mild disapproval.  "My sister can be a bit...unrefined at times.  Please bear with it.  I am sure that she will outgrow it...someday."


    "Ah. yes, of course.  We''ve sort of noticed that."


    "Welcome to our home. Now a question or five.  First of all, Kimiko, no more sarcastic comments.  Now is not the time for that.  Do you understand me?"


    She nodded and went back to sipping her juice.


    "All right.  Now then."


    I turned to face our new arrival,  So, you''re Kumiko.  It''s pretty obvious that you''re Kimiko''s twin.  Ah...when did you get here, and how did you get inside without setting off the alarms?"


    "That I cannot say.  I went to sleep at the orphanage in Asakusa, and I awoke here.  How my.....um......transportation was arranged and accomplished I do not know.  I am sorry."


    She gave me another bow and asked, "May I also have some juice?  I find myself very thirsty."


    (''English is difficult for me'' my foot!  Except for what looked to be some minor vocabulary problems, she probably ''speaks'' it better than I do.)


    "Sure honey.  Jane will you please get her some juice and then see about some scrambled eggs for all of us.  That''ll probably be the easiest thing."


    "On it Mama.  Oh, and by the way, I think that we can put the ''transporting people from place to place'' question to rest now.  Don''t you?"


    "It certainly seems that way.   It also answers the question I had as to why there are two of everything in their room.  Apparently Jerry had some ''help'' in picking things out."


    "I expect you''re right Mama.  It looks like someone has already decided we''re going to join the dance, ready or not."


    "Seems that way.  Oh well, I always wanted to learn."


    Jane gave me a rather tense smile and went to grab some eggs for breakfast.


    I noticed that the girls had their heads together, nearly touching.  They broke apart and Kumiko turned to me.  (At the moment I could only tell them apart by the animals they were holding.  Fortunately I was already getting somewhat different "feelings" from each of them.  It was likely that, within a few days, their predominate emotional patterns would make it easy to tell one from the other.)


    "Onee-san has ''filled me in'' as to what has transpired.  It must have been very shocking for all of you, though I daresay that onee-san has borne the brunt of it.  A most regrettable chain of circumstances.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "Still, one must make do with the situation one finds oneself in.  I must admit that the surroundings here are much more, ah, congenial than at the orphanage."


    Oh my God.  Enough was enough.  Argggghhhh!


    "Kumiko.  Stop it.  I can''t stand it anymore!  Please don''t tell me again that your English isn''t very good. Your vocabulary is at least as good as mine."


    <<You too. Stop laughing.  Geez.....>>


    "I understand that in Japan is it not considered appropriate to brag.  I agree that bragging is not a good thing.  BUT!  Making yourself out to be less than you are is also not good.  It encourages misunderstandings.


    "So, please, tell me how it is that you learned your English."


    "This is unsettling.  I...I don''t know what is the right thing to do.  But, since it is your command, I shall tell you what I can."


    Time for a cuddle, a bit of head petting, and a couple of squeezes.


    "Kumiko, I''m not commanding.  I...we... need your cooperation.  We''re MORE than happy to have you and Kimiko with us, but making all this legal if we don''t learn as much as we can isn''t going to be easy, unless we cheat, and I don''t want to do that.  OK?


    "So, please tell me about it.  Please?"


    "Ah, I see.  I was subject to some degree of misunderstanding of your motivation.  Very well.


    "Onee-san and I frequently needed to avoid those of a, let us say, foul temperament.  Your word is ''bullies''.   Onee-san has informed me as to what she told you about how she dealt with it."


    She looked at Kimiko, and dang if she doesn''t glare just about as well as I do.  Whatta girl!


    "Contrary to what she implied, she did not fight them off.  She coped in one of two ways.  She would either ti.tic...tickle?, yes, tickle them into submission, or she would jump or climb to some place that they could not reach and wait for them to go away.  In spite of her appearance to the contrary, she can, when avoiding pain, be very, very patient."


    Kumiko put on a thoughtful expression and then continued, "Now that I think of it, she has been climbing on things, and jumping around like a giant grasshopper ever since all of us at the orphanage were taken to a local high school to watch a gymnastics demonstration four years ago.


    The look she bestowed on Kimiko this time was one of fond exasperation. "I have been forced to watch her, what is the phrase, ah,  yes ''show off'' whenever she learned some new way to jump or spin or flip herself around ever since then.  She went absolutely ''gaga'' when she watched the Olympics'' gymnastics competitions on TV last year.


    "Really, it is so unladylike.  I must admit though that she seems to have become rather skilled at it."


    I looked over at Kimiko and she somehow managed to be not looking at anything in particular.  I decided to let her deception about how she dealt with bullies lie...for now.


    "As for myself, if they were not too big, I would, ah, damage them to the point that they would leave me alone.  Nobody at or near my own size tried twice.  However, I am not skilled in such things, and, when I was small,  I needed to flee from the larger bullies.  I discovered that they would not invade the personal quarters of the Sisters, so I would go there.


    "One Sister in particular, Sister Tabitha, was very sympathetic, and she would always allow me refuge.  As payment, she required that I learn Tai Chi and learn to read English.  Tai Chi I could and can understand.  It is as elegant art and well suited to a true lady.  As for the English...frankly I cannot imagine why she insisted that I learn it.  It would have made more sense to teach me Japanese, but I was unable to tell her so.


    "Therefore, learn English I did.  We rather quickly exhausted her tiny store of children''s books, so she had me read the others in her library.  Unfortunately, perhaps, she was very fond of Victorian Age romances.  They were dreadfully boring, but it was better than being beaten.


    "It is interesting that avoiding pain is almost as good a teacher as pain itself.  Hmmm.... I may pursue that idea someday.


    "Therefore it may be that my ''speech'' is rather on the formal side, but I cannot say in truth that it is something that I dislike.  The cadences of formal language are rather calming."


    That certainly explained why she knew so many ''big'' words and had trouble with some common ones.  I don''t imagine that one is tickled very often in a Victorian romance.


    Whoops!  Looks like Kumiko wasn''t quite done yet.


    "It pains me to admit it, but, while my ''spoken'' English vocabulary is fairly good, I cannot write any better than a child 2-3 years younger than myself.  There was little opportunity to practice it as the sister seemed to think that reading was more important.  I am most sincerely sorry."


    Jane picked up the ball and tore toward the goalpost.  "Well, well, what a state of affairs.  One that can easily be remedied.  When you girls are finished with breakfast, why don''t we go see what we can do to work on improving both your written English and Japanese?"


    To be completely honest, which I am compelled to be by these difficult circumstances...


    <<See!  I can talk like that too if I need to.>>


    Jane wasn''t looking at either girl when she said it.  She was staring at the ceiling again.  I was absolutely sure that she was now permanently ready to quit playing with porcelain dolls and was making the switch to living ones.


    (Gotcha again Jane....bwahahahaha!  It''s true too......lol.)


    Go ahead. Gloat.  You''ll get yours, and when you do, Mama, you''ll never see it coming.


    ---------------


    As soon as breakfast was finished and we''d cleaned up, Jane herded the girls down to their room just like a mother hen.  I went back to reading up on adoption proceedings.


    Actually, the process looked pretty much straightforward.  For orphans and "developmentally disabled" the procedure was fairly simple.  I hate that phrase, but I''ll work with it if it makes things easier.  There was nothing disabled about my girls at all!


    The difficult part would be figuring out how to explain the missing parents and concealing the fact that they were not US citizens.  If it came out that Kumiko had made a mystical appearance out of the ethers, we were all in deep kimchi.


    We''d have to build a convincing history.  But how?  Hmmmm.


    Yes!


    That would work.  They were dumped on us by one of my distant cousins as he and his wife ran off, somewhere.  Let''s see...


    Never in school, home schooled because of unspecified problems said cousin had with authority figures, especially the government.  Hmmm.  Distrustful.  Never used his real last name anywhere, so the girls have no idea what it is.  Moved every few months.  Hints of illegal activities.....ah..... Their parents were likely into burglary, and they left each town after scoring a few thousand more to live on for a couple more months.


    We can ''discover'' the family history after the girls have been in school for a few months and it becomes obvious that the parents aren''t coming back.  That''ll play into the Oregon adoption laws about relatives adopting abandoned children.


    I''d run that by Jane when she surfaced for air, probably sometime that afternoon.  For now I''d let her play with her new siblings.  It should be good for all three of them.


    I shook my head.  I really, truly wish that I''d been able to give Jane a more stable childhood.   Oh well, at least she had a completely normal high school life.  Or, maybe not.   Most normal kids don''t graduate from 3 schools in a week.


    Thinking about ''might have beens'' is about the most useless human activity ever invented.  I had more important fish to fry, so I turned back to the computer to do some more research.


    Mama is soooo silly.  I didn''t want a "normal" childhood.  I wanted to be with you.  And I can''t imagine a better mother, so quit beating on yourself.  Too bad that you won''t see this for quite some time, if ever.   But I''ll make sure that you know how I feel.

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 21

    The next day I wanted to get a feel for whether or not Kumiko would have any interest in or talent for martial arts, so I took her out to the training room.  Given Kimiko''s reaction, I wasn''t all that hopeful.  Regardless, I started the usual novice introduction.  About an hour later later I called Jane.


    "Same as when we started with Kimiko.  Come over as soon as you can please."


    "I figured you''d want me Mama, so I''ve already changed. Be right there."


    Once Jane arrived I explained to Kumiko that Jane would be my assistant instructor and that we needed her to see what she''d learned so far.


    "Understanding I am.  Demonstrating I will be."


    Jane whispered to me, "Was that just some sort of garbled Star Wars quote?"


    "I think so honey.  Let it slide and watch."


    "Go ahead Kumiko.  Just show Jane onee-san what I taught you.  Don''t worry about speed or accuracy right now.  You''ve just started, so concentrate on the general outline of the forms, OK?"


    "By your command."


    Oh gods above, now it''s Battlestar Galactica...


    Kumiko started and we watched.  10 minutes later I held up my hand. "That''s enough for now Kumiko.  I think that Jane knows what to do next.  Go ahead and shower and change, then we''ll meet you for lunch in a bit, OK?"


    "Yes Okaa-san, I shall see you at lunch then."  Kumiko bowed to both of us, turned, and walked carefully out of the room.


    When I turned back to Jane, she had squatted down and had a look of anguish on her face.  "What are we going to do Mama?  I can''t teach her!  What are we going to tell her that she won''t misinterpret?"


    I took her by her shoulders and shook her.  "What we''re going to do is what we always do with a new student and concentrate on teaching her the basic forms.  That and, above all else, about the responsibility one has to the art and the ethics behind that responsibility.  But for now it''s going to be you doing it at least half the time, like it or not.  She needs to see you as an authority figure too and not just me.  Otherwise she may not listen to you if a dangerous situation comes up.


    "Don''t worry Jane.  At least not too much.  I''m going to get on the phone and make a call.  Who knows, I might even be alive after I make it.  I don''t think Master Oh will really hurt me when I tell him that I need two hours of private instruction tomorrow, no matter what his plans are.


    "Once he sees Kumiko I don''t think he''ll be nearly as upset.  I''m pretty sure that he''ll agree that if we don''t get her trained, and soon, we''re going to be in a world of hurt.  It''s a wonder that she didn''t kill any of those kids bullying her at the orphanage.  She learned those 5 beginning forms perfectly in an hour.  I saw nothing to correct after the first 3 run-throughs."


    I chuckled, but there was no humor in it.  "Of course that''s not the problem.  Now and then you get students who can learn the forms the first time they see them.  The problem is the intensity she radiates.  She has the greatest natural talent for mayhem that I''ve ever seen.  Keeping her, what shall I call it, ah...''joy in violence'' I suppose, under control will be the problem.


    "I''m going to go make that call.  If we''re lucky, we''ll be gone no more than two days, though probably just one.  If I''m wrong, we''ll be back in a few hours,  after Master Oh ''chastises'' me for my presumption."


    I walked down the hall and almost tripped over Kumiko.  She did have the decency to at least pretend to be embarrassed to have been caught eavesdropping.  Then she stood up straight and bowed to me.


    "I am ready to accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate, but I had to know.  The first two of the children who attacked me once I had reached eight years of age later reported to the Sister in charge that they had fallen down the stairs and that was why their arms were broken.


    "I think that Sister Joseph was a bit suspicious when the injuries occurred 3 days apart and because of the bruises covering their bodies, but the boys swore that they had tripped.  I suspect that it was because they were too embarrassed to admit that it was me who picked them up and threw them down the stairs.


    "After that I was more careful, but I was unsure of what I was doing.  It is good to know that this can be trained so that one can control what one does.  I do not wish, ever, to have this beast inside me, that enjoys causing pain, wrest control away from me.  If it ever does, I fear for those around me when it happens."


    She bowed her head then and said, "I am ready for my punishment."


    "All right, if that is what you wish."  I walked toward her and she flinched, but stood still.  Then I knelt down and hugged her.


    "You silly goose.  I''m not going to hit you.  You may get some bruises from me when we''re training, but that won''t be punishment.  Your punishment will be an extra hour of typing drills."


    "Now, go tell your sister that you and I are going to Seattle tomorrow and that she and Jane will be finding her a Parkour teacher."


    "Scoot!"  And so she did.


    -------------


    We reached Master Oh''s studio at 09:55.  We unpacked and went to the door to wait.  He arrived at exactly 09:59 every day.  While we waited, Kumiko looked askance at my duffel bag for about the 10th time since we left.  She''d caught me making sandwiches last night and had asked, probably...possibly innocently, what army I was planning to feed the next day.


    I''d ignored her and continued making sandwiches.  While she watched me packing up at 05:30 this morning she''d kept looking back and forth from the fridge to my bag.  I must admit that she showed great restraint.  She didn''t say a word for over an hour after we''d left.


    "Okaa-san, why are we bringing so much food?  Does your Master Oh require an offering, or are you needing to feed him to calm his temper?"


    "Sweeting, there''s no way I can explain. You''ll just need to experience it.  It''s sort of like your ''voice''.  If someone can''t hear you, it really can''t be explained in a meaningful way."


    Her only response was a dubious "hmmmm".  That didn''t keep her from continuing with the meaningful glances at the bag all the way up.


    Master Oh arrived.  He totally ignored us, walked past us, then opened the door and went inside.  Not good. He must be really ticked.


    Never forget.  No matter how calm a person usually is, there''s always something that''s a hot button.  For Master Oh, it was his schedule.  He liked to plan EVERYTHING.  My throwing a wrench into the works like this was not something I could get away with twice.


    The look he gave me when we followed him in told me that I might not get away with it even once.


    I''d changed at a nearby gas station.  Kumiko didn''t have a gi yet, so she was just wearing sweats.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    I bowed to Master Oh.  Kumiko followed suit, but bowed much more deeply.


    Master Oh''s expression softened, about a millimeter.  All he said was: "Proceed."


    "OK Kumiko, start with what I showed you.  Do each exercise three times.  Then do them in sequence twice."


    I was standing so I was, apparently, watching Kumiko, but I''d positioned myself where I could see Master Oh clearly out of the corner of my eye.


    Yes, of course he knew I was watching him.  He''d have known if I''d been a block away behind his back.


    After she finished, he walked over to Kumiko.  "Do the third exercise again, but at 1/2 speed.  Stop when I tell you."


    He ran her through several of the exercises, occasionally stopping her to make small corrections of form.   When she''d finished he stared at the floor for a while.  Then he dismissed Kumiko.


    "You need to cool down and drink something.  You can become dehydrated quite easily without knowing it when practicing the art."


    Kumiko bowed again.  She headed toward the back of the room, but I''d learned my lesson.


    "Kumiko, go on out to the car to get your drink.  There are plenty in the cooler behind the seat."


    She gave me a grumpy look, but went outside as directed.  There was no way I was going to let her eavesdrop again, thank you very much.


    Master Oh still looked moderately irritated.  "All right, she''s an exceptional student.   But I don''t see why you felt it necessary to destroy my schedule for the day.  Would you care to explain yourself."


    "Master, given her skills, how long would you say she has been training?"


    Got a full glare for that one, since I hadn''t answered him.  It hurts when he glares at you!


    "Please Master. I would not ask this idly."


    "Very well, but I''d better hear a VERY convincing explaination, and very soon!"


    "She is how old?"


    "Nine years old Master."


    "Given her age, and how the better students progress, she has probably been practicing the art for 2-3 years.  And this is relevant, why?"


    "Master.  She learned what you saw in an hour.  I began teaching her only yesterday morning.  She has never been exposed to the art before."


    You should be proud of me.  I didn''t show even a tiny hint of a smile as I saw Master Oh lose it for the first time ever.  I''d never have believed that he was even capable of looking astonished.


    Then the glare came back.  "I''d ask if you were pulling my leg, but you have never shown any interest in, much less an aptitude for pranks.  Bring her back in."


    I did.  We faced him and bowed again.


    Hey, buttering up someone who really deserves your respect is never a bad thing when they''re pissed.


    "Master Knight has explained to me that yesterday was the first time you were exposed to the art.  Is that correct?"


    "Yes sir, Master Oh."


    He flinched that time.  Covered it up pretty well too.


    "Mama, I could tell that he would be able to hear me when he walked past us.  There''s no reason to pretend that I cannot speak."


    "Kumi-chan.  It would be more polite to tell me of things like that, privately, before you talk to people, especially people that you don''t know very well.  It''s not likely that everyone who can hear you will take it as well as Master Oh has.  You''ll frighten some people, and others will get angry.  EIther way it wouldn''t be very good, would it?  Besides, I about had a fit myself."


    Yes, I could have explained it to her later, but I felt that I owed it to Master Oh to give him some time to recover.


    "Master Oh, Kumiko and her sister Kimiko cannot speak at all except in this way.  At this point in time, only three people can hear her, you being the third. They were not treated...ah...very well...in the past because of the presumption that they were retarded as well as mute."


    "I see.  Kumiko.  Are you rested now?"


    "Yes sir, Master Oh."


    "You can drop the ''sir''.  I don''t require that degree of formality."


    "Now, I want you to do all the exercises together at 1/2 speed, then as you first did, then as fast as you can."


    "Begin!"


    When Kumiko finished, we both turned to Master Oh and bowed again.  He no longer looked angry.  He looked troubled.  He never looks troubled. I didn''t even know that he could.


    "Master Knight says that you learned that in an hour.  Is that correct?"


    "No Master Oh.  That is not correct."


    The glare came back as he turned toward me, rather menacingly in fact.


    "It was 57 minutes.  I see that Okaa-san is a bit inaccurate when measuring time."  This time SHE glared at me.


    Oh ye gods, preserve me if they should ever BOTH be angry at me at the same time.


    Kumiko paused and tipped her head a bit to the side, crossed her arms, then raised her right hand to her chin and rested it on the thumb and forefinger before adding, "Though in truth I must admit that it somehow seemed not so much that I was learning the techniques as it was that I was remembering them."


    She spread her hands and shrugged her shoulder slightly. "It pains me to admit that I cannot arrive at a satisfactory conclusion when I attempt to ascertain why I feel that way."


    I pointed at the car again.  She went again, reluctantly.


    Master Oh straightened and bowed to me.  "You have my deepest and most abject apology.  I let my irritation cloud not only my judgment of your decision but also my vision.  There is no excuse for my not seeing it the first time.


    "That child could become one of the most dangerous people in the world if she is not trained in ALL aspects of the art.  And the physical side is the least important of them.  Never in my life have I seen such ferocity in a student.  Even now, if she were to lose her temper, she could easily kill someone.


    "You will start her on mediation immediately, along with the philosophy of the art.  It will be up to you to decide how to integrate this into her training.  She must have perfect control of her temper as soon as possible."


    After saying that, he had the grace to look embarrassed.  "What a foolish thing to say, is it not?  To say that a child of her age must find the degree of discipline that few adults ever attain."  His eyes clouded.  "Even so, she must."


    "Agreed Master.  She has already broken the arms of two boys who tried to bully her, back in Japan."


    I held up my hand.  "Fortunately, she told me that she had already decided that she needed some sort of training as she was afraid of hurting someone permanently if she lost control of herself.


    "I strongly suspect that she will welcome the disciplines.  She seemed to be truly troubled by her ability to inflict damage on others when she meant merely to stop their attacks."


    He let out the breath he''d been holding.  "That''s a relief, to be sure.   Very well, bring her back in so we can talk."


    She returned, again and stood respectfully.


    "All right child.  One of the first things you must do as my student is to accept that you must always be truthful.  A child sent away, twice, so grown-ups can talk should look a LOT more upset than you do.


    "Just how far away can you be and still hear what people are saying about you?"


    "I am not entirely sure.  If it''s to me or about me, at least 20 meters Master Oh."  She managed to look quite chagrined as she said it, and then looked to me with an apologetic smile on her face.


    Master Oh had his mildly stern face on.  "And you heard everything we said?"


    "I only met Okaa-san two days ago.  It is not so easy to get to know, and trust, someone that quickly.  I am sorry that I did not tell you sooner, but given what has happened in the past, I have learned to protect myself however I could."


    Time for hugs and petting.  Then, "Don''t worry about it honey.  We''ll get ourselves sorted out.  We all just need to be a bit patient.


    "So, now that you''ve decided that you got away with your attempt to not answer Master Oh''s question, go ahead and answer it.  Right now will be fine."


    She gave me the typical "how in the world did you figure that out" look that kids have so often.  They don''t seem to be able to wrap their brains about the idea that their parents might have tried the same thing on their parents.


    "I...uh...heard everything."  She looked moderately miserable.  I decided that a few more minutes of misery would do her some good, so I said nothing.


    Master Oh crossed his arms and pulled out the next level of stern; "You will not do that again, do you understand?  If you want to know something, you will ask."


    "Yes Master Oh, I promise."


    "Very well.  You will come here for 4 hours once a month for training beyond that which Master Knight will give you.  You will be diligent when you practice.  I will know immediately if you are not.  Do you believe me?"


    "Oh, yes Master.  I most certainly do!"  Oh great, budding hero worship in the mix too.


    "And you Karla.  You will not just be watching.  You will need to improve your skills as an instructor.  You don''t think that you''re without the need to improve, do you?"


    "NO!  Not at all Master. I have a great deal to learn yet!"


    "Good.  Then we are in agreement."


    "Now we will finish our training for this month.  As soon as I make a call to free up another two hours, both of you will join me on the mat. We have a great deal to learn and not much time."


    We stopped at precisely 1:50 p.m.  I said nothing, just pulled out the food and passed out sandwiches.  I had my usual 5 and 2 quarts of tea.


    Kumiko managed to surprise me by scarfing down 2 1/2 sandwiches and almost a full quart of tea.


    Master Oh, maddeningly, had one sandwich and one quart of tea.


    He works harder than the rest of us and never seems to eat much, but he still has enough stamina for two.


    After that we said our goodbyes and headed back south.

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 22

    Well, it''s finally my turn.  OK, so I could have written anything I wanted any time before, but it sorta seemed like I was too...oh...ah...something.   Anyway, Mama and Kumiko are off to Seattle so Kimiko and I have been busy.


    First of all, we went online and ordered her some gardening tools that will fit her hands.  (Mama never remembers more than one thing at a time, or at least it seems that way.)  Then we spent some time bookmarking web resources on gardening on her computer, and I ordered a couple of interesting books.


    For some strange reason, there''s only one gardening "book" out there that is available for use on a computer.  The author is the first to enter the computer age I guess, as the entire thing is written in HTML and works with any PC or Mac (not that I''d have a Mac).  Well, anyway, since Kimiko likes rhododendrons, I ordered that one.  It''s called "The Rhododendron Guide."  The title seems a bit pretentious, but it says that it has several thousand photographs, so that alone makes it a go.


    Besides setting her up for gardening, the major goal of this was some real "girl bonding."   I''ve never had a younger sister and she''s never had a truly older sister, so we''re both feeling our way.


    As it''s turning out, it''s rather nice having her around.  We both like computers, and we both like sports.


    Like the Parkour thing.  Mama really can be dense sometimes.  After Kumiko had told us about Kimiko''s experiments in gymnastics, and I had her demonstrate some more techniques, it became completely clear that I didn''t need to find Kimi a teacher.  There''s this thing called the Internet, and YouTube has thousands of videos of Parkour.


    Easy as pie to watch them with her and then go outdoors and get to practicing.  We don''t have a lot of buildings here, but we do have LOTS of trees.  Maples, oaks, firs.


    It took less than four hours before Kimi was bouncing from branch to branch like she''d done it forever.  It even turned out be useful.


    After she''d worked out the bugs in her climbing, we''d gone inside for lunch.  After that, I rigged up one of my really old backpacks so that it fit her and stuffed it full of monitoring equipment.  Then we went back out and gave it a go.  She''d take a running start right at me, and I''d throw her up to a lower branch of one of the big firs, about 4 meters up.  She''d climb to where she had a clear sight of the land around, and then she''d set up the new surveillance equipment for me.


    Pretty nice that she''s small too.  I could never climb that high without breaking either a branch or myself.  A couple of small solar cells to power the highest ones, and the rest could transfer data by ambient backscatter.  Cool!


    The rest of the day we watched old movies and practiced Hapkido. Who''d think that there''d be another 9 year old movie buff like I was at her age?  Turns out that her favorites are from the 1930''s -- believe it or not!  (But I have to admit that the old Burns and Allen movies are kinda cute.)


    Hapkido you say?  You thought she couldn''t attack anything and was hopeless at it?  Bingo!  You''re right.  BUT as Mama had hoped, she didn''t have a problem learning the evasive skills.  Combining that with her new-found ability to climb trees will keep her as safe as anything else I can teach her.  (Well, yes, of course she can climb buildings too.  Do I have to tell you everything twice?)


    Anyway, Mama''s transponder code just lit up on the board, so it''s time to find out how the two of them did in Seattle.  Talk to you later....ah......uh.....what was I doing?  Oh yeah, going to see Mama and Kumiko.


    "We''re home!  Have you two been able to keep busy?   And what the heck happened to you Kimi?  Did you get in a fight with someone?


    "What in the 9 hells is the matter with you?  How could I possibly get into a fight out here?  With the squirrels maybe?  And speaking of which, what made ya think I''d do something stupid like that anyway?  Did your Master Oh give you a concussion?


    "I love you too Kimi-chan.  I''ve missed you.  Your sharp tongue, not so much.  I asked if you''d been in a fight because you have scrapes all over you.  You know, those places on your arms, legs, and face where you have fresh wounds?  It''s not a totally unreasonable conclusion."


    Kimiko and Jane looked at each other, then down at Kimi''s arms and legs, and then both blushed.


    Jane managed to get out a weak: "Oh...that...."


    "Yes, that.  Give."


    "Well, you see Mama, it''s like this.  When you train in Hapkido you get bruises, right?  In Parkour you get abrasions.  That''s all."


    "Yeah, right.  I can see some asphalt burns as a possibility, but we don''t have asphalt or concrete for her to get scrapes on, they''re too small to be from wiping out during a faceplant, and they look suspiciously like the ones we used to get pushing through brush when we were clearing out the undergrowth when we first got here."


    "Uh...well.  Tell you what.  Why don''t you two dump your stuff, get a shower, and Kimi and I will get the laundry going.  Then we''ll show you.  OK?"


    "All right, but don''t think that I''ll forget between now and then."


    "Do not discount me either.  I am looking forward to this demonstration as well, and I also shall not forget.  So do not try to...what is the phrase...weasel out of it."


    With that, Karla and Kumiko turned toward each other, nodded their heads, and broke out in big smiles.  Then, holding hands, they walked toward the big bathroom with the four person shower and soaking tub.


    "OK Kimi, we have half an hour.  Now do you see why I wanted you wearing jeans and long sleeves?"


    Kimiko waved away the protest.  "The injuries are nothing compared to....to....something that happened to a young man I once knew.  Somehow I can''t remember the details.  Anyway I''ll just go put on something that Ka-chan will find more appropriate.  Parents must be placated even when they''re wrong -- to a point."


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Kimiko trotted down the hall to her room to find something to wear, leaving Jane to deal with the laundry by herself.


    Later, with two freshly bathed, and two about to get dirty again, all four family members went outside.


    "OK Mama, we''ll show you what Kimi-chan has been doing.  First by herself, then together."


    Kimiko had started bouncing, on her toes only, as soon as they got outside.  Almost before Jane had finished talking, she was bouncing for real, this time off of walls, overhanging tree limbs, and the roof of the (former) pole barn.


    Then Jane tossed Kimiko into the lowest branch of one of the tall firs.  Kimi was shortly leaning out from near the top of the tree waving to everyone.


    "Kimiko, down, NOW!"  Karla''s face was alternating between flushed and pasty white.


    "Coming."


    About a minute later, Kimiko had slithered down from the tree and dropped lightly from the lowest branch, which was almost five meters up.


    "Do not EVER do that again.  It''s far too dangerous!"


    Then Karla rounded on Jane and was about to start in when there were several thunks around her.  There was a small throwing knife about 4 inches to the side of each shoulder, one between her legs, and one about 6 inches above her head.


    "Mama, don''t make the mistake of thinking that you know everything.  You of all people should know how ta control your emotions.  If you could not, ya wouldn''t have been able to do your work.   Yes, Jane has told me of some of it.  Had she not, Kumiko or I might make mistakes in talking to people.


    "Now, listen up!  I am the one who will decide what is or is not dangerous IF it is something where I know more than you do.  In this area, I do.  Just as I know how ta throw a knife properly.


    "In areas where you know more than I, I shall listen to you.  But do not EVER try to tell me what to do when I know more than you about something!"


    Kimiko was standing there with her hands on her hips, giving me a glare that was a scaled down version of Master Oh.  I was certainly not going to tell her that though.  More than anything else, she looked like an empress giving an advisor a dressing down.


    "All right.  We''ll discuss those ideas of yours as time goes by.  Now, explain the knives.  It''s a good thing I was standing in front of all this plywood.   It''d be hard to explain how the house got a bunch of holes in it when the repairman came."


    "A good thing?  Weren''t you listening?  I''d never have thrown them if you hadn''t been standing there.  I''d have waited till there was some other suitable backing.  THINK!


    "Kumiko and I are adults in more ways than you can imagine right now.  Growing up where we did ages you quickly, or you end up a...what''s the phrase....a basket case!


    "I found the knives in the street when I was about six.  Some drunk wearing a gi was staggering home and fell not 10 meters from me.  He got up and went on his way, but he''d dropped something.  Yes, it was a sheath holding 4 throwing knives.  I''ve been practicing for the past five years."


    I took a deep breath, OK maybe a dozen or so  --  I lost count  --  and tried to think.  The gears were spinning but they weren''t engaging.  What I didn''t, couldn''t wrap my mind around was the knives.  Where did they come from?  I knew that she didn''t have them when we "rescued" her.  She was only wearing that rag of a chemise.  Since they were all staring at me, I blurted out the first thing that I thought of.  "But you don''t like hurting people.  You can''t even throw practice punches in the dojo.  How could you ever use a knife on someone?"


    "That was that and this is this.  If someone tries ta hit me, I can now evade and run away.  It is not right ta hurt someone when ya don''t need to.  There''s nothing wrong in escaping from an attacker.  It is shameful ta hurt someone when it is not needful.


    "But, if someone threatens the life of you or your family, and there is no way to evade or escape, you do what you must to stay alive.  I may be a child, but with these I can protect myself and my family, just as I always have, whether it is with these or by bashing someone over the head with a potted plant.  And so I shall again if there is a great enough need."


    Kimiko was standing there looking as fierce as any guard dog, and, I almost hate to admit,  just as intimidating.  My brain was still in neutral and I couldn''t thing of anything more to say or do when the need to do so was tabled by the tones indicating that Jerry''s truck had passed the entrance gate sounded.


    <<Yes, his truck is one of the few vehicles besides our own that has a transponder that the gate will automatically open for.  Everyone else needs to use the intercom.  What do you mean I''m not going to get away with it?  Oh.... I''m avoiding talking about my problem?  What problem?  Oh, ah, that.  Well, I can''t help it.


    It''s genetic.  You should know that we''re just not built to deal with sudden surprises.  What?  You caught me looking like an idiot, and you think that it''s funny?  You just wait mister.  You''ll get yours when I get back there.  So there.   Now, shut up and let me get on with it.>>


    Jane turned to me. "Are you expecting a delivery Mama?"


    I took one more deep breath then responded in what I hoped was a normal manner, "Nope. Not me.  Guess you aren''t either.  I wonder what''s up."


    We found out about 40 seconds later when Jerry drove up, followed by a car full of people.


    As soon as both had pulled up, said extra people swarmed out of the car, up into the truck, and started carrying things into the house.


    "I told them to use the first room on the right of the T off the main hall, as you said.  Sorry it took so long.  Some of the stuff that Jane wanted was hard to track down.  Looks like we''re in time though. I don''t see him here, so I guess he hasn''t arrived yet."


    "That''s nice Jerry.  So what in the flaming hell are you talking about!?"


    "Huh.  You still asleep Karla?"


    He pulled a small notebook out of his shirt pocket and flipped it open.  "It''s all here.  Bedroom furniture and clothes for a boy age 13, height 5'' 7," slim build.  He likes mostly green but some dark blues are OK too.


    "Let me tell you, getting a computer like that built so fast was really hard Jane.  I had to order the external drives.  Nobody locally had multiple three terrabyte ones so I''ll bring them by when they come in.  What I still can''t believe is that one of the local shops had the video cards you wanted.  An nVIDIA Tesla C2075s and a Quadro K6000!   Finding even one of them just lying around is like finding a hen''s tooth.  But both of them in the same shop?  Amazing luck that.."


    About then I saw one of the women who''d come with Jerry walk past with a stack of 3 boxes that were labeled as containing 27" monitors.  Three?


    Jerry was talking again, or maybe still.  Piling this on top of Kimiko''s knives was definitely overloading my ability to respond rationally.


    "I agree that that room is the best choice.  That way the girls can have the one closest to their bedroom in the south wing for their workroom, and the one farthest away down the side hall to the north will work for his, if he needs one.  Someone with a computer like that usually stays where the computer is though.  Speaking of which, we had to get a custom desk to hold the computer and all three monitors, but he won''t be sharing the room, so no problem.


    "Anyway, we''ll be finished here within forty-five minutes or so.  Only the bed and desk need any assembly."


    "So, now that that''s all straightened out, and since this time you''re here, here''s the bill.  You can pay me now."


    And with that, he just stood and looked at me, pointedly.


    "Ah, sure, I''ll just go get my checkbook."

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 23

    It seemed like only a few moments later that Jerry and gang packed up and drove off, leaving us all standing in the parking area.


    "Uh, Mama, you heard the same thing I did, didn''t you?  You heard it too, didn''t you girls?  Right?"


    "Logic dictates that we are about to become a family of five.  Specifically, we are about to experience the dubious joys of having an older brother, and you of a younger.  I do not believe that I have missed anything, have I Kimiko?


    "Not that I can see Kumiko.  Things are getting weirder and weirder.  I don''t think we''re in Kansas any more."


    "Will you PLEASE stop with those strange movie sayings Kimiko?  Ah, It is from a movie, is it not?"


    Kimiko just glared at Kumiko.  Just then Jane and I looked at each other and it wasn''t a glare.  It was more shocked.


    Once again in unison: "OH shit! The dragon!"


    We sprinted off toward the house.


    "We''d better follow them Onee-chan."


    "Agreed Onee-san.  Besides, if we do not, we might miss out on something interesting!  Hurry!"


    Four pair of legs thundered through the door and down the hall.  Karla threw open the door to her room and she and Jane charged inside then stopped cold.


    The twins slammed into their backs, but Karla and Jane just absently braced themselves against the impact.  Their attention was fully on what was in front of them.


    "Jane, we''re both seeing the same thing, right?"


    "If you mean that all five toes and the wrist of the right foreleg are all black now, yes I guess we are seeing the same thing."


    "I can''t see anything Jane-neechan, move over!"


    "In truth I also cannot see.  Please move Okaa-san, and explain what this is about black toes and such."


    Well, it would come out eventually, so I motioned Jane over and I stepped aside as well.  Then I explained about the dragon changing.


    "Oh, is that all?  I''m gonna go play my typing game.  Bye...."  Kimiko was either truly bored by what had happened, or she was faking it very well.


    Kumiko on the other hand...


    "Hmmmm  What is this?  The area around the claws and toes is....."


    Right then I "accidentally" bumped Kumiko and interrupted her.  "Yep, you''re seeing it right, gold claws and black toes."


    "Come on, we''re both filthy again.  Let''s get our baths and change into some fresh clothes."


    "To be sure Okaa-san.  A bath would be most pleasant.  I need my hair washed anyway."  Then Kumiko stalked off down the hall.


    "What''s got her knickers in a knot Mama?"


    "Beats me. Probably half, no three-quarters exhausted. Master Oh beat the heck out of both of us for almost four hours."


    "Oh my God!  Why didn''t you say so?  You''re going to need a good soak or your muscles will be Jello by tomorrow.  Just the shower you had before isn''t going to help at all.   I''m sorry I didn''t give you time for more than that before Kimiko and I did our little demonstration.  Off wit ye!"  Then she pushed me toward the bathroom and, I must admit, I didn''t resist even a little bit.  I really DID need a long, hot soak.


    Kumiko and I did the Japanese thing of washing each other''s hair and scrubbing each other''s backs.  I really wonder why we don''t normally do that here.  It''s a LOVELY custom.  The not lovely thing was that she didn''t speak to me at all.


    Once we were soaking, she pinned me to the side of the tub with what was a quite well practiced glare.


    <<Why is it that people are always glaring at me?  Is it some sort of karma?  No, don''t answer that, I don''t think I really want to know.>>


    "Okaa-san.  Why did you prevent me from speaking in your room?"


    Damn, she''s too smart.  I didn''t really think that it would work, but you can always hope, right?


    "I need to ask you a question first Kumiko. Humor me please.  Tell me what it was that you were about to say.  Then I''ll answer your question."


    "Very well, but do not try to sidetrack me.  I can be very persistent, and I will not let you distract me."


    Dang, there went one of a parent''s best tricks.  Not that I had planned to use it just then, but I might have wanted to in the future, and that sorta spiked my wheel in advance.


    "Above, or maybe within, the changed areas, I regret that I am not entirely sure which, there was some sort of light.  I think it was a kind of light.  I just cannot be sure."


    "OK honey.  I have just one more question, or perhaps I should say that I have a set of questions about one thing, then I''ll answer you, I promise."


    "What color are my eyes?"


    "REALLY.  I have told you that you cannot distract me.  And why try with such a simple question.  They are green of course.  Now that I think of it, they are about the prettiest bright green that I have ever seen."


    Suddenly Kumiko clapped her hands over her mouth and this time she started to bounce.  Fortunately just a little, so she only made a few ripples in the tub.  Kimiko would have caused a miniature tidal wave.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "Kaa-chan, tell me.  Tell me RIGHT NOW!  What color are my eyes and Kimiko''s?"


    "You have very lovely, turquoise eyes.  Kimiko''s, now that''s rather odd.  They''re sorta brown, but they have areas with bright orangish and yellowish tones to them, almost like flames in a fireplace.  She''s the only person I''ve ever seen with those colors."


    Now Kumiko was bouncing nearly as much as Kimiko would.  Fortunately the floor was completely waterproof throughout and had a drain in the middle.


    "Yatto!  Yatto!  Finally, I have found someone else who sees things like I do.  Kimiko always got mad at me when I said that.  She insists that our eyes are dark brown, like most every other Japanese person.


    "OH!  Tell me.  Please.  What color eyes does Jane onee-san say that she has, and what do you see?"


    "Jane says that her eyes are blue and mine are brown.  I expect that she sees your eyes and your sister''s as brown also.   I see eyes that are a vibrant, lavender color."


    "Me too.  Me too!  How exciting!  Ah.  Now I see why you interrupted me.  You did not wish them to know what I see.  I understand that now, but I must confess that I do not understand why you do not wish them to know."


    Then she gently whapped herself on the forehead.


    "Oh my.  Please forgive my rudeness.  I know it was terribly wrong of me, but I was unable to restrain myself."


    "It''s all right honey. I understand why you were irritated with me.  There''s nothing to forgive."


    "I do not mean that.  I called you ''Kaa-chan'' instead of ''Okaa-san''.  Such a thing is not easily forgiven.  You have my abject apologies."


    "Whatever are you talking about?  Kimiko calls me that all the time."


    Kumiko sniffed at me.  Maybe she couldn''t talk the usual way, but she was great with body language and facial expressions.  "That one has the manners of a barbarian.  You cannot expect a barbarian to behave properly.  I, on the other hand, understand my position and the responsibility of a child toward her parent."


    "Oh, I see."  I didn''t really but, hey, sometimes you need to wing it.  "Very well, I will forgive your transgression if you put in some extra time with your mathematics.  You''re not very good with that yet, and you need to get up to speed in the next few weeks."


    "Hai, Okaa-san.  I will work hard so as not to embarrass you with my poor performance once we start school.


    "School.  I get to go to school.  Marvelous."


    Then she wrapped her arms around her knees and sat there with a dreamy expression on her face until it was time to get out of the tub.


    --------------------


    After dinner Jane and I were cleaning up, and the girls were doing homework.  Yes they weren''t in school yet, but they were studying and at home.  If that isn''t homework, what is?


    <<Heck no, I didn''t try to stop them and tell them to "go out and play" like other kids.  They were having fun.  If not, then giggling doesn''t mean the same thing in Japan as it does here.  At least I assume that mental giggling counts just as much as they vocal kind.  Wouldn''t you?>>


    "Did you notice what''s on the door of our new, non-resident, family member''s room Mama?"


    "Hard to miss a heart shaped plaque with ''Ian''s Room'' on it.


    "And yes, I already checked Jane.  Jerry doesn''t know anything other than that ''we'' ordered it along with the rest of the stuff.


    "And did you notice that he didn''t freak out when he saw TWO girls instead of one?"


    "Yeah Mama.  Things are getting stranger and stranger.  What''s gonna happen next do you suppose?  Will it start raining frogs wearing tuxedos?"


    Jane shrugged her shoulders, "Well, at least we know his name."


    "And, speaking of plaques, the girls want one for their room too.  Apparently that''s not all that rare in Japan, and they say that they''ll feel more comfortable that way."


    Jane pondered.  She does that very well now.  "Somehow I suspect that the real reason is that they don''t want their soon-to-be new ''brother'' to have something that they don''t.  The fancy computer setup doesn''t bother them.  They have computers that suit their needs, so that makes them equal in that sense.


    "I also suspect that they''ve seen boys, especially older boys, get all the attention from the adults and want to be sure that they won''t be ignored.  Women and girls are still considered second rate beings by a lot of folks in Japan."


    "You''re probably right Janie.  I''ve had some problems along that line with Asian men who are over here for business.  The ones who have come to the studio to keep up on their Hapkido when I was up there for a class seem to have lost that prejudice rather quickly though."


    Jane and I shared a very wicked grin.  Nobody ever tried to pull that on me twice, even outside the studio.  Inside, well...  Nobody ever finished doing it once.


    "Anyway, back to business.  Anything I should know about what''s going on with you and the FBI?"


    "Good timing Mama, I was about to bring that up.  There''s a courier run for you.  Fortunately just down to Eugene.  The CIA doesn''t want any known operative doing it because they don''t want the recipient ID''d."


    "The CIA?  How''d this conversation go from the FBI to the CIA?   Now that I think of it, you never explained why that first badge you gave me was CIA."


    "Oh that.  That''s because you''ve been delivering packages for them for years.  They''ve come to trust you.  At least as much as they trust anyone that is.


    "Some of your ''business'' clients were CIA agents working with Interpol on some drug cartel problems.  And, no, they haven''t told me what was in the packages, and I''m not going to ask either."


    <<You should be proud of me.  There''s been so much nastiness going on that I didn''t even flinch that time.>>


    "OK, when?"


    "Tomorrow morning Mama.  We''re to make the pickup at 7:30 a.m."


    "What''s with this ''we'' Jane?"


    "Beats me.  They just told me that I''m to go along as camouflage.  There''s nothing suspicious about a mother-daughter shopping trip after all.  Besides, there''s a shop in Valley River Center that caters to the fantasy cosplayers, and it has some interesting knives.  It''ll be fun to take a look while we''re in town.  Strictly as part of our cover of course."


    "Of course Jane.  Strictly as part of our cover."


    Giggles all around at that retort.  Huh?  All around?


    I turned around and there were Kimiko and Kumiko behind us. Obviously eavesdropping again.


    I glared. They grinned back at me.


    Dang, already it wasn''t working.  It took Jane 3 years to figure out that I didn''t mean it when I glared at her.


    No it didn''t Mama.  I just let you think that so you''d feel better.  So there!


    Whoops!  The girls....  What were we going to do about the girls?  No way could we take them with us.


    Of course, it was Kumiko who anticipated my concern.


    "Do not be distressed Okaa-san.  Kimiko and I shall stay here and either study or exercise  --  INSIDE."  Another glare for Kimiko then.  Kimiko seemed unfazed by it, but she did nod -- hopefully in acquiesence.


    "Worrying about leaving two normal nine year old children alone is understandable.  Worrying about leaving THESE nine year old children alone is a mistake.  We are hardly normal."  She looked a bit sad as she said it, but then shook herself  and continued.


    "Any intruder would find himself in, how do you say it?  Oh yes, ''A world of hurt''.  Besides, from what Kimiko says, Jane onee-san''s pink hornet on the gate post will dissuade all but the most desperate from even considering an attempt to enter the property much less stealing something.


    "The desperate will be thieving within the city.  They will not take the time to come all the way out here.  Even if they did, should someone attempt to force the gate the automatic systems will summon the police immediately, will they not?  And should someone essay to approach from another direction, the motion detectors will warn us.


    "Should that occur, we will hit one of the panic buttons and take ourselves directly to the hidden safe room.  That way nobody will ever discover that we were left ''Home Alone''.  Besides, we are much more capable than that idiot Kevin child in the movie."


    Dang but she''s thorough.  And good at relieving my fears too, I might add.  It makes me wonder who''s the mother here.


    <<What? Adults should listen to children more often?  Well, I can''t argue with you on that one.  Heck, even you''re right -- occasionally.


    OUCH.  I told you before, NO HITTING!


    I deserved it did I?  Well I''ll tell you something!  Um...actually I won''t.  We should stop playing and get back to work.>>

 Vol 5 - Opening Knights - Ch 24

    The next morning Jane and I packed up and headed out to a certain building that was almost, but not quite downtown.  We picked up the package and headed for I-5.  It was promising to be another hot day.  August here can occasionally be in the low 100s, but today it was predicted to be no more than 92.  It looked like there would be some cloud cover, at least for the morning, so we didn''t stop anywhere but got right on the freeway.


    What Mama really means is that I talked her out of grabbing a dozen donuts on the way to the freeway.  So there!


    There wasn''t much traffic southbound that early so we made good time down past Enchanted Forest and Willamette Valley Vineyards.  Just as we hit the flat I saw someone behind us weaving in and out of traffic like a madman.  Pretty soon I saw why.  There were lots and lots of flashing lights weaving right behind him.


    I slowed down and pulled over to let the parade go past.  Fortunately everyone else did too.  There''s usually some idiot who doesn''t watch behind himself or who doesn''t care, but not today  -- thankfully.


    After they''d passed by, I felt something like a little like a tug on my hand, so I pulled out and put on a bit of speed.  Jane looked a question at me, I shrugged, and we kept on at about 75 mph.


    After we crossed the Willamette River and got up toward the curves leading to Albany I saw that the object of the police''s intentions had screwed up somehow and had rolled his car.  It looked like the airbags had all deployed.  I pulled over into the median and stopped.


    "Mama, what are you doing?  We shouldn''t be involved in this.  We have a job to do."


    I heard her voice but not what she was saying.  I found myself out of the car and walking toward the wreck.  Then a child, a boy, crawled out of the broken rear window of the upside-down car.  He looked around then he focused on something behind me.


    He dodged the policeman who tried to intercept him and took off running.  I turned as he passed me and saw him hook his arm around Jane''s waist to slow himself down.  Then he seemed to try to hide himself behind her, with just his head poking out so he could see what was happening.  The cop came up to me, and he was not a happy camper.  "What the hell are you people doing here?  You should know better than to interfere with the police.  And you boy, you get back over here so we can check you out.  You might be hurt you know.  Sometimes you don''t feel it at first.


    "What''s your name son?"


    I''ll have to give it to him. Very few people can pull off switching from stern and commanding to caring and compassionate in the course of four words.


    "My name is Ian Bergner, and I''m going with these ladies, and I feel fine.  So just let me go...please."


    I looked at Jane.  She gave me a fleeting grin and shrugged her shoulders.  I did likewise.  I really do NOT like being manipulated like this, but, we did decide to join the dance, so.....


    "Officer...ah....Peters.  I''m afraid that the boy is correct.  He is coming with us."


    You may not believe it, but what he said next really did sound like venom was dripping from his mouth.  "Uh, huh...  I don''t know what kind of idiots you are, but if you don''t turn around and get back in your car and leave, RIGHT NOW, I''m arresting you for obstruction of justice, and any other charge I can come up with."


    I sighed. Oh well.  I reached into my shirt pocket and flipped open my FBI ID.   "I wish you wouldn''t take it that way.  But, as you can see, I do have a reason to be here."


    "You?  With the FBI.  When pigs fly!  You just happened to be here, huh?  Right."


    It was Jane''s turn now, and she was right on schedule.


    "Officer Peters, you have two choices."  She walked closer and flipped her Homeland Security ID at him.  Her voice could have cut glass and his eyes flipped over to her as if they were jet propelled.  "Well three actually.  The first is to simply go away and tell your brother officers that two ''detectives'' have taken the boy into custody.  If you do, you will never tell them who we are or who we are with.  Then you will forget that you ever met us.


    "Your other two choices are variations on the same theme.  You get to choose whether the FBI or Homeland Security gets to arrest you.   Either way, you''ll be charged with interfering with the investigation of a terrorist plot.  There''s always room for one more at Gitmo."


    I''d never seen her do menacing before, but she was beyond good.  Every word had been delivered in a tone that would have shattered glass.  (Believe me, there''s NOTHING scarier than that.   She even made me a bit nervous.  Those acting classes did more for her than I''d thought.)


    "Ah...uh...well,  I was just trying to do my job.  No insult intended. You just surprised me, that''s all.  Yes, you just surprised me."


    Jane did icy well, but he was doing flustered stammering even better.  It was all I could do not to burst out laughing.


    My turn again.  "So I take it that you''ve had a change of heart?"


    He glanced at the sky.  "It looks like it''ll be a hot one today.   I''d better go back and get to dealing with the traffic or something.  Good day to you."


    With that, he sauntered off, back toward the wreck.  He didn''t do it very well, but he probably didn''t have Jane''s theater training.


    "OK, let''s get out of here.  Jane, in back with Ian so you can check him out.  I find it pretty hard to believe that a rollover didn''t cause at least a little damage to our new relative."


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Ian was staring at both of us alternately.  He was still holding onto Jane though, so he had to twist all the way around the front of her to see her face.  He looked a bit like a snake trying to figure out how to climb up a slick pole.


    Once again, I managed not to laugh, but it was a close battle.  I definitely needed to spend more time meditating on controlling my emotions.  Not that I was going to admit it to Master Oh.  He''s already right about almost everything. I wasn''t going to give him something else to gloat over.


    <<Of course I was being petty.  Get a life!>>


    So, back in the car.  Pulled out, carefully.  After being set up like this, I wasn''t going to let random chance have a swat at us by pulling out in front of some oblivious driver and getting splattered all over the highway.  Then I concentrated on driving south.


    Jane concentrated on Ian, who was still holding on to her like a drowning man does to a life preserver.  (Have you ever seen one of those?  You''d have to be extremely desperate to grab one. They''re heavy and awkward. Give me a good life jacket any day.)


    <<Get back to the story?  What''s the problem?  I was giving you some helpful information.  ...Oh, yeah.... You wouldn''t ever be in danger of drowning, would you?  Oops!>>


    So there we were, the three of us headed to Eugene.  Ian was still glued to Jane, who was starting to look a bit frantic.  Finally she''d had enough and spoke to Ian directly.


    "Look, I know that you''ve been traumatized, but there''s only so long that I''m willing to let you keep your face where it is now."


    Ian lifted his head and looked up at Jane.  Then he looked down at where his face had been.  The next thing I knew he was on the other side of the back seat, looking as if he wanted to plaster his whole body against the door.


    It''s rather amazing how bright a blush someone with skin as pale as his can have.  Though, thinking more about it, I realized that I''d never met anyone with his coloring.  Hair so blonde that it was almost white, with skin that shade of white that women would have died for back in the 18th century.  (Well, a lot of them did die  --  from anemia they developed while taking arsenic to give themselves a pale complexion.)


    HAH!  And you say that I go off on tangents.  Who do you think I got that trait from Mama?


    His eyes were a very unusual blue.  They seemed to have quite a bit of depth to them, but I couldn''t tell for sure unless I turned around and drove while facing backwards.  Not something I was very eager to try.


    We made the delivery without incident and headed home.   The trip to the mall would have to wait.   Now that I wasn''t looking everywhere for someone tailing me I took some time to appraise our new family member.  Ian had finally lost the ''deer in the headlights'' look, so it was time to have a little talk.


    "So, Ian.  Whatever got you into that car?  You seemed to be in quite a hurry to get away from it."


    He looked at me, then at Jane.  When she gave him an encouraging nod, he took a deep breath and started to recite his story with a precise, clipped voice.  "I was attending the Davidson Academy of Nevada in Reno.  You''re probably not familiar with it.  It''s for people who score in the top 0.1% on either the SAT, ACT, or IQ tests.  I''d developed some algorithms dealing with cryptography, then I branched out a bit into the hard sciences, but I can''t tell you anything more about that.  It''s classified."


    Jane flashed her Homeland Security badge and I showed my FBI ID over my shoulder.


    We both said "talk," and he did, just not exactly the way we''d thought.


    "WOW!  Homeland Security and the FBI.  They sent both of you to find me after I''d been snatched?  WOW!"


    Another kidnapped kid?  What am I, a home for abused, neglected, or kidnapped children?


    <<Well, no you''re right, for a change.  I wouldn''t give up any of them.  I love them too much.  Spoilsport!  You don''t ever let me complain.  How can I de-stress if I don''t complain?


    What?  Exercise till I drop?  Where''s the joy of venting to some other being in that?  You really are no fun a times......  Sulking here......  Say something.......


    Oh, all right, I''ll get back to it.>>


    I looked at Jane and nodded slightly.  She''d be better at making up a whopper on the spot than I would.  Also, we were coming up on a rest stop.  Time for me to make another hurried phone call, but this time not to Jerry.  Mr. Forsythe and I needed to talk.


    Jane was doing splendidly if Ian''s expression as I got out of the car meant anything.  He looked like a cat with a bowl of vanilla ice cream.


    <<Yes, some few cats can taste sweet things. Look that one up yourself.  I know that you have Metanet access there.>>


    I sauntered over behind the building, and I was much better at it than Officer Peters was I might add.  Hit speed-dial.   "Hi Mr. Forsythe.  Yes, we''re all fine.  We ran into a little bit of a situation on the way to Eugene."


    "How little?  Well, just a police chase, rolled car, and a kidnapped kid who insisted on coming with Jane and I so we had to pull out badges and talk fast. "


    "The child''s name?  Ian Bergner."


    Held the phone at arm''s length for a while till the volume dropped to something below a banshee''s wail.


    "Ah, no, we rarely watch television.  Oh, I see.  Amber alert out for Ian.  Multi-state dragnet.  Uh-huh.  Secret government project."


    "Well, yes, that we knew about.   How?  He told us.  No details though, claimed ''need to know''.  Yes he is a good kid, as best I can tell after 2 hours.  OK.  Sure.  You''re going to deal with the local LEOs.  Confirm FBI and Homeland Security were on the job."


    "Yes, I see that it will enhance the reputation for both."


    I muttered, "They could use it."


    "What did I mean by that?  Nothing. Nothing at all.  Just wanted to say that neither gets enough credit for all the unsung work they do."


    PHEW!  Have to watch my mouth more carefully in the future.  That could have been nasty.  Fortunately most people have a built in flattery meter.  If it''s about someone else, they discount it.  If it''s about themselves, they''ll eat it up.


    "Take him home with us for now?  Sure, we''d planned to anyway.  You''ll get back to us sometime this afternoon.  Roger that.  Bye."


    Curiouser and curiouser.


    Back to the car.  Got back on the freeway.


    "OK Ian.  We''ve been instructed to take you home with us.  I have a strong suspicion that you''ll be staying with us for quite some time.


    "We''ll probably have to change your last name though.  Ian should be OK to keep, it''s not all that rare.   Do you have a preference for your surname, or do you want to think about it for a while?"


    Gotta give it to him.  He was sharp.  Didn''t bat an eye.  Probably because they were both still glued to Jane''s face now that he had his head out of her cleavage.


    Yes, yes.  Very funny Mama.  And very typical for someone as vulgar as you.


    "There''s no hurry is there...ah....what is your name again?"


    I did smack my hand on my forehead that time.  Made my eyes water.  You''d think that I''d have learned better by now.  Hmmm..... Maybe I should check it out and see just how strong I am one of these days.  Somehow I never got around to it.  Making a mental note now.


    "Knight.  Karla Knight.  The lady you can''t stop looking at is my daughter Jane."


    "Daughter?"  His eyes got even brighter.  "This may turn out to be a lot of fun!"


    <<Oh gods in heaven!  He''s another bouncer.  Why me!?   I know.... Don''t answer that.  Please.  You''re insufferable enough as it is.


    Yes, I can deal with wounded silence just fine.  Go ahead and pout.>>